A4 | NEWS OTHEGLOBEANDMAIL | MONDAY,NOVEMBER25,
The family of a Somali-Canadian
peace activist who was fatally
shot is calling for a joint inquiry by
Canadian and Somali authorities
to find out how she was killed in a
military-controlled compound in
Mogadishu.
The family of Almas Elman is
questioning an official statement
that suggested she was killed by a
stray bullet.
Ms. Elman was an activist and
former Somali diplomat who
grew up in Ottawa after her family
fled the civil war in Somalia. Her
father, peace activist Elman Ali
Ahmed, was murdered in Mogad-
ishu in 1996. Her mother, Fartuun
Adan, founded the Elman Peace
Centre in Somalia, and her sister,
Ilwad Elman, was nominated for
the Nobel Peace Prize this year for
her work in Somalia.
In addition to her work with
the Elman Peace Centre, Almas El-
man also worked on social-justice
issues, women’s rights and the re-
habilitation of child victims of the
Somalia conflict.
She was hit by a bullet last
Wednesday afternoon while she
was in a car at the Halane base
camp, controlled by African
Union peacekeeping troops. She
was heading to the Mogadishu air-
port after a meeting at the base.
“Pending a final report, prelim-
inary investigations indicate Ms.
Elman was hit by a stray bullet, es-
pecially as no firearm discharge
was reported within the base
camp at the time of the incident,”
said a statement by the African
Union mission on Friday. “The
base camp in the past has record-
ed similar incidents of stray bul-
lets.”
The peacekeeping mission
promised to conduct a full investi-
gation with Somali security forces
and other agencies. But in a state-
ment on Saturday, the Elman fam-
ily questioned the official ac-
count.“Any statements on the cir-
cumstances surrounding the
death of Almas are premature and
not helpful to our family, includ-
ing speculation on whether this
was a ‘stray bullet,’ ” the state-
ment said. “We desire to see her
murder thoroughly investigated
and request it be done jointly by
the Somali and Canadian author-
ities. Until that thorough and ro-
bust process has been completed,
we ask that no person or authority
offer their own conclusions or
comments.”
A spokesman for Global Affairs
Canada declined on Sunday to say
whether the department is con-
sidering obliging the family’s re-
quest for a joint investigation. Syl-
vain Leclerc said only that Cana-
dian diplomats based in neigh-
bouring Kenya are talking to
“local authorities to gather addi-
tional information.” The Cana-
dian government has no embassy
or offices in Somalia.
Some Somali politicians and
commentators have alleged that
security forces were engaged in a
gun battle near the military base,
possibly causing a stray bullet
that killed Ms. Elman. They have
called for greater efforts to ensure
safety for civilians when security
forces are involved in fighting.
The family said it has been
moved by “the incredible out-
pouring of support” from all over
the world. “Our hearts are broken
right now by the immeasurable
loss. ... Almas was a beautiful and
radiant soul, and innocent in this
tragedy. She has been taken from
us far too early, and that she was
pregnant throughout this makes
this tragic event even more so un-
fathomable for us.”
Amnesty International, in a
statement last week, said the
death of Ms. Elman showed the
risks faced by activists in Somalia
and the need for the authorities to
ensure civillian safety.
The investigation into her
death must be “impartial, thor-
ough and effective” and must en-
sure that anyone suspected of re-
sponsibility “is brought to justice
in a fair trial,” Amnesty said.Familyofaid
workerslain
inMogadishu
callsfor
investigation
GEOFFREYYORK
AFRICABUREAUCHIEF
JOHANNESBURGAspokesmanforGlobal
AffairsCanadadeclined
onSundaytosay
whetherthedepartment
isconsideringobliging
thefamily’srequestfor
ajointinvestigation.Hong Kong’s democrats romped to a land-
slide and symbolic majority in district
council elections after residents turned
out in record numbers on Sunday to vote
after six months of anti-government pro-
tests in the beleaguered city.
In a rare weekend lull in the unrest that
has rocked the financial hub, democratic
candidates across the city of 7.4 million
people secured more than half of the 452
district council seats for the first time
against a strongly resourced and mobili-
zed pro-establishment opposition.
When the results began trickling in after
midnight, including upset wins for demo-
crats against heavyweight pro-Beijing op-
ponents, some voting centres erupted in
loud cheers and chants of “Liberate Hong
Kong. Revolution Now” – a slogan used by
many protesters on the streets over the
past six months.
Some winning candidates said the re-
sult was akin to a vote of support for the
demonstrators and could raise the heat on
Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing chief executive,
Carrie Lam, amid the city’s worst political
crisis in decades.
“This is the power of democracy. This is
a democratic tsunami,” said Tommy
Cheung, a former student protest leader
who won a seat in the Yuen Long district
close to China’s border.
The voting ended with no major disrup-
tions in a day that saw massive, though or-
derly, queues form outside voting centres.
Pro-democracy candidates had secured
a clear majority by 8:00 a.m. (midnight
GMT Sunday) with 333 of 452 seats, com-
pared with 52 for the pro-establishment
camp, according to media estimates. Dem-
ocrats only secured around 100 seats at the
previous polls four years ago.
Almost three million people voted, a re-
cord turnout of more than 71 per cent that
appeared to have been spurred by the tur-
moil, almost double the number last time.
Hong Kong’s district councils control
some spending and decide a range of live-
lihood issues such as transport. They also
serve as an important grassroots platform
to radiate political influence in the China-
ruled city.
“I believe this result is because there are
a lot of voters who hope to use this elec-
tion and their vote to show their support
for the [protest] movement, and their five
demands, and their dissatisfaction with
the Hong Konggovernment,” said former
student leader Lester Shum, who won a
seat.
The protesters’ demands include full
democracy, as well as an independent in-
quiry into perceived police brutality.
“The district council is just one very im-
portant path of struggle. In future, we
must find other paths of struggle to keep
fighting,” Mr. Shum said.
The state-run China Daily newspaper
said in an editorial on Monday the election
“will hopefully have served as an opportu-
nity to return the city to normal.”
“The relative tranquility the city en-
joyed since several days before the elec-
tion suggests all stakeholders regarded it
as an opportunity to air their views.”
Demonstrators are angry at what they
see as Chinese meddling in the freedomspromised to the former British colony
when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
They say they are also responding to per-
ceived police brutality.
China denies interfering and says it is
committed to the “one country, two sys-
tems” formula for the autonomy of Hong
Kong put in place in 1997.
Jimmy Sham, a leader of the Civil Hu-
man Rights Front, which organized some
of the anti-government rallies, won his
electoral contest, as did Kelvin Lam, who
stood in after prominent activist Joshua
Wong was barred from running.
A number of pro-Beijing heavyweights
including Junius Ho, whose abrasive pub-
lic comments have made him a hate-figure
among many protesters, lost to pro-de-
mocracy challengers. He described it on
Facebook as “an exceptional election, and
an unusual result.”
The protests started over a now-with-
drawn extradition bill that would have al-
lowed people to be sent to mainland China
for trial but rapidly evolved into calls for
full democracy, posing the biggest pop-
ulist challenge to Chinese President Xi
Jinping since he came to power in 2012.REUTERSHongKongdemocratstriple
theirseatsinlocalelections
Pro-democracycandidates
acrossthecitysecuredmore
thanhalfofthe452available
districtcouncilseats
Pro-democracydistrictcouncilcandidateJimmySham,centre,whowonhisrace,isseen
walkingwithhisteamatapublichousingestateduringdistrictcouncilelectionsonSunday.
PHILIPFONG/AFPVIAGETTYIMAGESJOSHSMITHHONGKONG
While the source of the new documents is
unknown – they were provided by Uyghur
overseas networks – their disclosure may
amount to another sign of dissent in the
party over the crackdown.
The International Consortium of Inves-
tigative Journalists, an independent non-
profit based in Washington, led the inquiry
into the documents, bringing together
more than 75 journalists from the consorti-
um and 17 partner organizations, including
the Times, in 14 countries. Outside experts
also reviewed the papers and concluded
they were authentic.
“In terms of documentary evidence, we
have reached a next level of disclosure,”
said Adrian Zenz, a researcher who has
studied the camps and a senior fellow in
China studies at the Victims of Communi-
sm Memorial Foundation, a human-rights
group in Washington. “The evidence we
have now is very comprehensive, very
complete. It’s kind of game over for Beijing
in terms of the cover-up, the denials and
the half-truths.”
The most significant of the new docu-
ments is the secret directive on how to
manage the camps, which is the only docu-
ment in both sets of leaked papers to de-
scribe the inner workings of these facilities.
The nine-page order was issued in Novem-
ber, 2017, by the Communist Party commit-
tee in Xinjiang that oversees legal affairs.
The papers also include four “daily bul-
letins” from another regional party com-
mittee that provide information about
those that have been targeted for investiga-
tion and detention in camps and a court
judgment sentencing a Uyghur resident to
10 years in prison on charges of inciting eth-
nic hatred and discrimination, a vaguely
defined crime.
Beijing has rejected criticism of the
camps and described them as job-training
centres that use humane methods to fight
the spread of Islamic extremism. Internal-
ly, thegovernment often uses language
consistent with that position. The leaked
directive, for example, refers to the camps
as “vocational skills education and training
centres” and the detainees as “students.”
But it also lays bare the punitive under-
pinnings of these facilities, and some of its
language on guarding against escapes and
other incidents is identical to that used in
guidelines for prisons and other detention
sites.
The orders called on guards to control
and monitor the activities of students.
“Prevent escapes while they are at class,
dining, using the toilet, washing, receiving
medical care or meeting with family.”
Other instructions call for erecting
guardhouses and internal partitions inside
the camps to prevent inmates from moving
around freely; rigorously checking any
people, vehicles or goods entering, and
recruiting informants to spy on other detai-
nees.
“Evaluate and resolve students’ ideolog-
ical problems and abnormal emotions at
all times,” the directive said.
The document included
orders for “full video surveil-
lance coverage of dormitories
and classrooms free of blind
spots,” and prohibited detai-
nees from having contact
with the outside world, ex-
cept in strictly monitored in-
teractions.
The government says
these sites help prevent Uygh-
urs and other Muslims from
being drawn to religious ex-
tremism by teaching them the Chinese lan-
guage, job skills and how to be law-abiding
citizens. In response to the earlier leak of
documents, thegovernment argued that
its methods have effectively stifled extre-
mist violence in Xinjiang.
Former detainees, though, have de-
scribed the classes as numbing, harsh and
ultimately futile attempts at brainwashing.
And residents have been sent to intern-
ment camps for behaviour that would be
commonplace elsewhere: travelling
abroad, showing signs of religious devo-
tion, praying regularly or growing a long
beard, or installing certain cellphone apps,
such as encrypted messaging tools.
One of the leaked daily bulletins orders
an investigation of people from Xinjiang
who have obtained foreign citizenship orapplied for visas or other documents at
Chinese embassies abroad.
Another describes how 15,683 “suspi-
cious persons” were sent to centres in
southern Xinjiang on the week of June 19,- Thegovernment has repeatedly re-
fused to say how many people are being
held in these camps.
Other bulletins reveal how the author-
ities settled on targets for detention by us-
ing databases that collect and collate infor-
mation on Xinjiang residents, especially
Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.
The daily bulletins and the document on
camp operations were signed by Zhu Hai-
lun, who was then the top security official
in Xinjiang. He was assigned to another po-
sition in the regional legislature early this
year.
Mr. Zhu, 61, appears to have been a key
enforcer of the internment
campaign, turning the or-
ders of the regional party sec-
retary, Chen Quanguo, into
detailed plans. A party offi-
cial who spent his career in
Xinjiang, Mr. Zhu had previ-
ously served as the head of
Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi,
succeeding an official who
was fired in 2009 after bloody
ethnic riots killed nearly 200
people, most of them Han
Chinese.
The directive on camp operations in-
structed officials to keep extensive records
on detainees, and described a scoring sys-
tem that measured how they behaved to
determine their fate.
Inmates should be assigned to one of
three zones based on how dangerous they
are judged to be – general management,
strict and very strict, the document said.
But detainees could be moved between the
grades of control depending on their
scores.
“Break down scores and manage and in-
dividually assess the students’ ideological
transformation, study and training, and
compliance with discipline,” the docu-
ment said.
NEWYORKTIMESNEWSSERVICEChina:Documentslaybarepunitiveunderpinningsofcamps
Evaluateandresolve
students’ideological
problemsand
abnormalemotions
atalltimes.CHINESEINTERNAL
DOCUMENTON
DETAINMENTCAMPSFROMAHEADINGLEY,MAN.An Indigenous child-
welfare authority in Manitoba has called
in the RCMP after being hit by a cyber-
attack that’s corrupted its computer files
and potentially compromised the privacy
of its clients.
Southern First Nations Network of
Care spokesman Jim Compton said the
organization’s IT department has been
trying to restore service since its comput-
ers shut down Thursday.
The RCMP confirmed their Integrated
Technological Crime Unit has been made
aware of the incident and is investigating.
Southern First Nations Network of
Care is one of four authorities in Manito-
ba that manages child and family ser-
vices. It represents 10 different agencies,
although Mr. Compton has said the cyb-
erattack has not affected all of them.
On Sunday, Mr. Compton said they
weren’t able to connect to the internet at
the authority’s office, and staff were
trying to figure out how to provide ser-
vices this week. “At this point, it would
probably have to be manual for a lot ofthe claimants, the foster families etcete-
ra,” Mr. Compton said.
The Manitobagovernment said in a
news release that it has offered technical
support and other resources to the au-
thority and other partners in child wel-
fare as needed. The province is also limit-
ing remote access to its computer sys-
tems to ensure security until the problem
is resolved. It said the Southern First
Nations Network of Care is still determin-
ing the extent of information that may
have been at risk.THECANADIANPRESSRCMPINVESTIGATINGAFTERINDIGENOUSCHILD-WELFAREORGANIZATIONHITBYCYBERATTACK