Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 6^th April 2022

Introduction

Good morning – With the withdrawal of Russian forces from the outskirts of Kyiv, the true horror of the war is beginning to emerge. Mass graves have been found and there’s evidence of civilians having been shot dead after their feet and hands were bound. Images of the bodies of civilians in the streets of Bucha have led to international condemnation of Russia and further accusations that its forces are committing war crimes. The International Criminal Court has already begun investigating whether war crimes are taking place and Ukraine has also set up a team to gather evidence. Ukrainian prosecutors say they are investigating 4,684 alleged Russian war crimes, but the number is growing by the day.

But what is a war crime? It may not seem like it, but “even war has rules”, as the International Committee of the Red Cross puts it.  These are contained in treaties called the Geneva Conventions and a string of other international laws and agreements. Civilians cannot be deliberately attacked – nor can the infrastructure that is vital to their survival.  Some weapons are banned because of the indiscriminate or appalling suffering they cause – such as anti-personnel landmines and chemical or biological weapons. The sick and wounded must be cared for – including injured soldiers, who have rights as prisoners of war. Serious offences such as murder, rape or mass persecution of a group are known as “crimes against humanity”.

Genocide is defined in international law as the deliberate killing of people from a particular national, ethnic, racial or religious group, with the intention of destroying the group – whether entirely or in part. As such, genocide is a specific war crime that is bigger than the illegal killing of civilians. The law requires proof of the intent to destroy the group.

Whereas many world leaders have labelled the atrocities as “war crimes,” on Monday Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Russia should be investigated for “war crimes AND genocide.”  He added “We will do everything possible to ensure that those who committed these crimes do not go unpunished and can appear before the International Criminal Court to respond to these alleged crimes against humanity, war crimes, and why not say it — genocide,” Sanchez continued.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and prosecutes individual war criminals who are not before the courts of individual states. Establishing the “chain of command” is very important for any future trials – including either where a leader has authorised an atrocity – or turned a blind eye to it. It is vitally important therefore that all evidence, including forensic evidence is gathered as quickly as possible to avoid it being destroyed or contaminated, plus the testimony of eye witness accounts.

Meanwhile the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres has called for an independent investigation into “the images of civilians killed in Bucha, Ukraine”. This came after Russian troops withdrew from the town on the outskirts of Kyiv, images of bodies lying in the streets subsequently emerged and members of media organisations also saw corpses. A gruesome video of the atrocities was shown by President Zelensky at the UN Security Council yesterday in the presence of Russian UN Security Council representative Vasily Nebenzya, the latter describing it as “a staged provocation by the Kiev regime” and of “fake dead bodies”. Moscow denies the charge and has called the allegations a “monstrous forgery”, as reported in the Russian state-owned RIA news agency. The President of the Security Council described the images shown as “harrowing”.

Reaction to the atrocities has been swift from the international community. EU President yesterday afternoon proposed wides ranging and more severe sanctions against Russia. Italy, Denmark, Spain and Sweden expelled a total of 73 Russian diplomats in a new wave of anti-Moscow moves. This was followed by the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) declaring ten Russian officials as persona non grata and informed the Russian ambassador to Portugal that these officials have two weeks to leave the national territory. According to a count made this afternoon by the French news agency AFP, the number of Russian diplomats expelled from several European Union countries since the invasion of Ukraine amounts to at least 260.

The vital work of journalists covering the Ukraine war cannot be overstated. It is mainly through their work that the outside world becomes aware of the events and atrocities that are taking place. This is obviously at great risk to themselves with some 18 journalists killed so far covering the war. The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information also added that another 13 journalists had been injured, eight abducted or detained and three others were still reported missing.

 

Turning to the Azores – The president of the Civil Protection of the Azores warned on Monday that the seismovolcanic crisis on the island of São Jorge “is not over” and could take days or months, during which the population should maintain “vigilance and stay calm”. Having been monitoring this daily, we can see that although the number of earthquakes felt by the population has slowed down considerably the risk remains.

A team of scientists from the Instituto Volcanológico das Canárias (INVOLCAN), Spain, travelled today to the island of São Jorge, in the Azores, to support Portuguese researchers and intensify the work of Volcanic Surveillance. This shows good international collaboration utilising best practices and experience.

The civil protection authorities continue to monitor closely and evacuation plans and other measures are in place, or being put in place should an evacuation become necessary. An update record of events and latest news can be found on our website, which is updated daily.

With that have a Safe Day

Health

State reduced by 10% private use to reduce waiting lists

Private hospitals registered a 25% growth in the total number of surgeries in 2021, but had a 10% reduction in the number of surgeries contracted by the SNS compared to 2020, within the scope of the Integrated System for the Management of Registrations for Surgery (SIGIC) said Óscar Gaspar at a press conference, where he took stock of the activity of private hospitals last year.

The question that arises has nothing to do with our availability, which not only remained but was superior, but on the part of the SNS it was understood that, on the one hand, there were surgeries that were internalized and it was not necessary to resort to third parties for them to be made and, on the other hand, some will have been made by other entities”, he underlined.

Taking stock of the activity of private hospitals in 2021, Óscar Gaspar said that 2021 “was still a year very marked by covid-19”, but there was “an intense work” to recover the activity that was not carried out in 2020 as a result of confinement and of the DGS rules.

“But we recovered what had not been done in 2020 and we still added many clinical diagnostic acts in relation to 2021”, said the official based on data provided by hospitals to APHP, which, he said, “gives a reliable portrait” of the activity.

He added that the investment reported in 2021 was more than 150 million euros and was due to the construction of some hospitals and the acquisition of equipment and technology.

According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), there are 129 private hospitals in Portugal, which in 2021 were responsible for 8,286,932 consultations, 995,148 episodes of urgency and 222,000 large and medium surgeries.

“We are talking about quite significant figures”: 22,000 consultations, 2,660 episodes of urgency and 564 surgeries per day, on average” he explained.

Ukraine: Marcelo defends investigation into “intolerable massacre” in Bucha

Lisbon, 04 Apr 2022 (Lusa) The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, stated  that there should be an investigation into what he described as “an intolerable, inhuman, shocking massacre” in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kiev, Ukraine.

“It is an intolerable, inhumane, shocking massacre, a brutal attack on human rights and international humanitarian law and, therefore, it can only provoke the repudiation of the international community, which will naturally want to find out what happened, investigate what happened”, the head of state told journalists at the Centro Cultural de Belém, in Lisbon.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa added that if the investigation proves facts “in line with what is thought to have happened” in Bucha, this will “lead to initiatives so that those who are competent, such as the International [Criminal] Court, can appreciate”.

According to the President of the Republic, there is no doubt that “what happened is unacceptable”, but “in order to specifically hold responsible who did it, who the people were, under what conditions, how, for that, the matter of fact is fundamental”.

Asked if he agrees that there is enough data to call the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, a war criminal, as did the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa replied that, “for those who believe in the rule of law, have to be the courts to convict”.

“One cannot properly declare a war criminal without a court decision, it can be said that there are behaviors that clearly point to war crimes – and that is what I said, by the way, in the Government’s inaugural speech, when I spoke possibly criminal liability, in addition to an attack on humanitarian law”, he considered.

The head of state said that one should “obviously hold accountable who should be held accountable politically and then legally”.

Two-thirds of Ukrainians who arrived in Portugal are still unable to work

Refugees cannot work without a temporary protection certificate. Delays are being caused, according to the SEF, by the Tax Authority

Of the 27,000 requests registered by the Aliens and Borders Service (SEF) for refugees arriving from Ukraine, only 8,500 certificates of granting of residence permits under the temporary protection regime have yet been issued. Without this certificate, according to the newspaper “Público”, people cannot start working or access support. Of these 27,000 requests, a third are for minors and of the 8,500 already issued, 700 are for children and young people under the age of 18.

According to the SEF, the delay in issuing certificates is caused by the delay by the Tax Authority (AT), since the documents are issued as soon as the Social Security (SS), the National Health Service (SNS) and the AT issue the respective user numbers and tax identification.

The press service of the Ministry of Finance states that the AT “is, as a rule, assigning the NIF within 24 hours after receiving the identification elements of the migrants from the SEF”. However, it states that there are “some occasional situations of need for additional confirmation of the identities of migrants, namely, when the respective data are similar, but not entirely coincident with those of other taxpayers to whom a TIN has been previously assigned.” 

Border training course for GNR military starts Wednesday

Lisbon, Apr 5, 2022 (Lusa) – The GNR will have, as of Wednesday, the first border training course within the scope of the transfer of competences from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), the Ministry of Administration announced today Internal (MAI).

“A total of 18 trainers and nine internship supervisors from the SEF will teach the course to 44 GNR soldiers at Escola da Guarda”, in Queluz, followed by an internship at the maritime borders of Lisbon, Funchal and Leixões, says a statement released. by MAI.

Considering the beginning of the training process to be “fundamental” for a “sustained and effective transfer of competences” from the SEF to the other authorities, given the extinction of the institution scheduled for May 12, the MAI also revealed that 44 PSP agents will start the respective training course on 18 April, with a subsequent internship at the air borders of Lisbon, Faro and Funchal.

The announcement of the first border training courses follows the MAI’s assurance that the reform of the SEF will indeed take place.

In a response sent to Lusa after meetings on Monday with the Union of Career Investigation and Inspection of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SCIF/SEF), the Union of Investigation, Inspection and Border Inspectors (SIIFF) and the Union of Employees of the Service and Borders (SINSEF), MAI guaranteed that “the entire restructuring process will be clear and transparent” and in dialogue with the workers’ structures.

Without going forward with dates, the MAI indicated that the minister José Luis Carneiro assured the unions the “maintenance of the remuneration statute” of the employees, that “everything will be done in order to protect the functional status” and “preservation of a dignified career, with prospects for progression”, as well as the “possibility of accessing leadership positions, exercising functions in European and international bodies or immigration liaison officers”.

The extinction of the SEF, decided by the previous Government and approved in November 2021 in the Assembly of the Republic, was postponed from January to May due to the covid-19 pandemic.

The law passed in parliament determines that the current administrative powers of the SEF in relation to foreign citizens will be exercised by a new institution, the Portuguese Agency for Migration and Asylum (APMA), and by the Institute of Registries and Notaries, in addition to transfer police powers to PSP, GNR and the Judiciary Police.