Non-State Actors

By Péter MARTON In the last two weeks there has been much commentary about the revocation or cancelling of Bill Browder's "visa" (rather his Electronic System of Travel Authorisation permit, or ESTA) by the United States, after Russia had issued an Interpol arrest warrant against him, a measure that could have significantly hindered the activities of a major critic of Russia's Vladimir Putin. Browder (pictured) now has his ESTA back, but it may be interesting to ask the question of exactly how and why it was taken from him even for the short time it was. Or seemed to have been... Browder, originally a US, later (since about 30 years now) a British citizen, set up Hermitage Capital Management, an investment fund, back in the 1990s, and acquired shares in many Russian companies, planting seed capital as well as gaining a foothold in strategically important firms. Shares in Gazprom were eventually in Hermitage's portfolio too. So Browder was in on a lot o...

By Péter MARTON Have you heard of the Life Esidimeni healthcare scandal before? In a nutshell: There is pressure now on the managers of several South African NGOs to account for the deaths of psychiatric patients in their care after as many as 75 patients died in the facilities of five of these organisations between March 23 and December 19, 2016, in Gauteng Province (population: 12.2 million). A total of 141 deaths (including at hospitals) are being investigated. So who is responsible for these deaths? South African Health Ombudsman Dr. Malegapuru Makgoba named five NGOs "the most dangerous" related to the cases concerned. These are Precious Angels, CCRC/Siyadabinga/Anchor, Mosego/Takalani, Tshepong, and Hephzibah (see page 1 of this government report for the list and more). These and 22 other NGOs took over mental patients from Life Esidimeni, the healthcare contractor that provided services up to 2015 for the Department of Health in Gauteng province. The Depart...

By Péter MARTON It is more than two years since the Panama Papers , a massive dump of 11.5 million documents related to offshore financial transactions with the involvement of Panamanian corporate services provider Mossack Fonseca, have been leaked and published. A large number of public officials, politicians and their various associates and family members have been implicated in the affair. It may be interesting to draw a balance at this point. The number of senior officials who resigned so far in connection with the Panama Papers scandal: 2 They include Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, after protests gave him an additional push, and a Minister of Industry in Spain, José Manuel Soria . (Please enlighten me if I am not aware of additional cases that may count here.) The number of journalists killed investigating the implications of the Panama Papers: 1 That is Daphne Caruana Galizia, Maltese journalist, murdered by a car bomb this week . (P...