#unity clause au | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

johnboothus · 4 years ago

Text

Next Round: Stephanie Gallo and Bev Founder Alix Peabody on Canned Wine and Female Empowerment

On this episode of “Next Round,” host Adam Teeter chats with Stephanie Gallo, CMO of E&J Gallo Winery, and Alix Peabody, founder of canned wine company Bev. They discuss how Bev’s position as an unapologetically pink, women-owned, women-targeted brand is the crux of its success. Stephanie, an alcohol beverage industry veteran, and Alix, an industry newbie, talk about how their partnership is a learning experience for both women. Alix credits Bev’s popularity to her identity as a consumer first and a founder second. She knew next to nothing about the beverage world before diving into it, she says, and now she’s fussing over minutiae like the particular sound Bev’s cans make when they’re cracked open.

Tune in to hear about how Bev secured $21 million in investments in its infancy, and why you can expect to see more of it on shelves near you in the coming months.

Listen Online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check out the Conversation Here

Adam: From Brooklyn, New York, I’m Adam Teeter, and this is a “VinePair Podcast” “Next Round” conversation. We’re bringing you these conversations between our regular podcast episodes in order to give everyone a better picture of what’s been going on in the alcohol beverage industry this year. I’m really excited to be talking with Alix Peabody, the founder and CEO of Bev, and Stephanie Gallo, the CMO of Gallo, because they have a really interesting partnership that’s just begun. Stephanie and Alix, thank you so much for joining me. So before we jump into why you’re both on the podcast, I think everyone who listens to VinePair is probably well familiar with Gallo, but they may not be super familiar with Bev. So, Alix, if you could tell me a little bit about Bev and yourself, that would be awesome, to get us going.

Alix: Yeah, absolutely. Bev is a little bit of an enigma, I suppose. I think Stephanie would agree with me there. But it’s a crazy story — I started the company just about three and a half years ago, but honestly, it was a brand and a mission long before it was a product. I knew nothing about the alcohol beverage business whatsoever. I started the company actually out of a need to pay some medical bills because I was going through some health problems. I ended up throwing these parties that were really female-centric, female-focused. I come from a background and a history of being in very fratty places, male-dominated industries, and stuff like that. As I started throwing these events, I really loved the idea of what happens when you change the narrative a little bit around whose base that really is, and how do you make that more female-friendly and female-owned? I’ve never been an angry person by nature. I always like approaching these things with joy and unity and all that good stuff. So I started looking into different ways that I could spread this brand vision and mission before anything else. I landed in this industry by accident because I was like, “This is the lowest common denominator of any party you’ve ever been to, or any event.” I wound up making canned wine simply because I had some friends in the wine industry. I didn’t know much about it. I knew that it was going to be very hard to find some amazing supporters like Steph, given that it is such, it’s such a mysterious industry for a lot of people. I ended up picking wine because I figured that we needed to have some proof of concept and a customer base before we could really prove that there was a huge market for this. This was before canned wine was a big thing. So I cashed out my 401k at the time. I bought 300 gallons of rosé from — I don’t even know if Steph knows this — a guy I met on a dating app who just so happened to be in the wine industry, and then off we were to the races. And I got to meet Stephanie last year and it’s just been the best. I can’t say enough amazing things about Gallo and our relationship. I would call it a friendship at this point, too. It’s just been wonderful.

A: So tell me, why canned wine? So obviously, you were doing parties, but what made you see an opportunity in canned wine as opposed to bottled? I mean, now I guess it’s a little bit more obvious that RTDs are all the rage and things like that. What was it about canned wine that got you interested, and what specific brand did you want to create around canned wine?

AP: Oh, my gosh. It’s such a funny question because I get asked this a lot, like, “How did you know about the RTDs?” I knew nothing. My whole thought process behind it was, “Well, wine is the only product that I can sell direct-to-consumer. Therefore it’s the only product that I can understand who my consumer is. We can sell without distribution because I figured that was going to be really hard.” I was Googling three-tier liquor laws. That’s how little I knew at the time. I put it in a can simply because I had no money. I thought to myself it’s really hard to pour something into a glass and be able to identify what that brand is. You don’t know what it is if it’s in a glass. So I put it in the can because I was like, “If it’s cute, and if it’s marketable, and people want to take Instagram photos with it, it will start to market itself.” At the time, it was very hard to find someone who would even can wine, so I was just lucky.

A: Was the goal of the brand always direct-to-consumer?

AP: No, the goal has always been to be a mass-market product, and to be everywhere and anywhere consumers are. I just knew that we were going to need a proof of concept, and I knew that we were going to need to be able to show distributors who are looking at products in terms of scan data that there’s actually a market for this. There’s a customer, and I can tell you where that customer is. I just figured that it was going to be my only way to really prove the concept of a brand new product. I’m glad we did because it’s quite hard to launch a new product in the middle of a pandemic.

A: Did you find that also helped in fundraising?

AP: It did eventually. In the beginning, nothing really helped in fundraising. It was so much work. I mean, I’ve told Steph this, but I spoke to over 400 people just to get a few checks at the beginning, because it’s such a tough industry for people who know nothing about it. That’s something that hopefully Bev can start to make more approachable. I’m really excited that the Gallo team sees what we’re doing and values it, because trust me when I say it has been a long journey and that has not always been the case.

A: The beverage industry is really hard, and obviously Stephanie can tell you that. There’s a lot of ideas, and a lot of people trying to raise money. There have been some brands that are buzzy right now that we could talk about that are also DTC — some that I’ve had on this podcast — but a lot of them haven’t raised (and correct me if I saw different things) $7 million. Or $14 million?

AP: First 7, then 14.

A: So $21 million’s a lot of money to raise. What do you think is it about Bev, and your story, and what you were selling that caused these investors to say, “We will totally go in on this,” when a lot of other beverage companies cannot do that and have had a really hard time raising funds?

AP: That’s an awesome question. I think it was a few things. My grandfather always said luck falls on the shoulders of those prepared to receive it. There was a lot of preparation. Part of the reason that we were not able to raise capital in the beginning from traditional beverage or CPG funds is because they want to see metrics. They want to see traction. This is such a catch-22 for young brands because you have no metrics, you have no traction, and it’s a capital-intensive business, and you need the capital to to get it off the ground. I leveraged my relationships in Silicon Valley from my time working there, and we were very lucky to be the first-ever beverage and/or CPG product backed by Founders Fund. The only thing that was very difficult about it, that I think a lot of people don’t realize, is a lot of these funds that play in the fast and loose space or form of investing, they have vice clauses, so they’re not allowed to invest in an alcohol, tobacco, firearms, or sex toys. I don’t know why rosé is lumped in with firearms per se, but a lot of them just can’t even do it. So the number of people that you’re actually allowed to try to raise capital from is even smaller, which makes it even more difficult. I was lucky in that I was able to get someone who said, “I see your vision, I see your brand, I see your passion, and I’m going to invest in that,” pre-revenue. That was frankly crazy, but good on them. I am so grateful for that support. It wasn’t until we really started to show traction, metrics, and repeat rates, and get some major retailers behind the brand as well, that we were able to say, “Look, there is a real market for this,” and go to the more traditional sources of capital. I think that is one of the major issues. The major catch-22 for young beverage brands is that there’s not a lot of capital available for beverage companies without solid metrics.

A: I’m sure there’s a lot of people who are listening to this podcast right now, like you, who also have beverage brands, or who are thinking about beverage brands. We also have one of the most accomplished CMOs on this podcast with you, so I don’t want to only keep asking you questions, but I have one more before I come to Stephanie.

AP: She’s someone that knows all the good stuff — she’s the one to listen to.

A: Who was the market for Bev, and what did the growth look like? So when you first started going to market, what metrics were you looking for? Were you trying to go from 100 cases to 1,000 cases to 5,000 cases? Who were you targeting? I’ve read a bunch about the brand, but I don’t want to give away what I’ve read. Instead, I want you to tell the listeners who you thought the audience for the brand was, and were they the people that actually became the audience for the brand?

AP: Another fantastic question. I used to walk down a liquor aisle or a beer aisle or whatever, and you see all of these branded products that are highly emotionally branded and targeted towards the male consumer, or, in my opinion, the male consumer trying to buy drinks for the female consumer. It’s not necessarily speaking to and with the female consumer. Or you have fantastic brands that are more artisanal in nature where it’s really about the craft, it’s about the winemaking, all that kind of stuff. For me, there’s really nothing that a woman can hold in her hand in a can that’s almost like wearing a brand T-shirt that says, “This is what I stand for.” For us, it’s always been about exciting women to have not only the permission but the joy of celebrating themselves and being themselves. That’s what we hope to communicate. At the beginning, I thought given the bright packaging I’d get asked a lot like, “Well, why do you make it pink if you’re a feminist-forward brand and blah, blah.” I was like, “Because it’s my favorite color, and I don’t need to apologize for that, frankly. That’s why I did it.” Then I started putting in more of my favorite colors and stuff like that. I think the authenticity of the brand has really resonated with the consumer through and through. That said, the consumer base has been far more expansive than I expected. I was expecting us to really hit that sort of late-20s, maybe early 40s range. We’re seeing tails all the way up to women in their mid-60s pretty equally distributed, and also pretty equally distributed throughout the country, which has been very exciting. A lot of those people, they’re looking for it in stores. They’re looking on our store locator to find it. That’s where Steph comes in.

A: Thank you for that, Alix. So Stephanie — how did you first discover Bev? I understand, somewhat to your point, that there aren’t a lot of brands that are very female. But then you have other people who will say, “Isn’t that all of wine?” I’m wondering from Stephanie, who has so many brands and has been in this business for such a long time, I feel like that’s a stereotype that all wine is female-focused. That’s what I hear all the time from other winemakers: “How do I bring in men to my wine?” (I don’t know why I just did a weird Italian accent.) I hear more and more like, “How do I get men to drink Prosecco? Only women drink Prosecco.” So I’m curious if all of us are just wrong and we’ve all stereotyped wine for too long. Also, Stephanie, when did you discover it, and what attracted you to it in the first place?

Stephanie: On a personal level, I discovered Bev, believe it or not, through a mutual friend on Instagram where she actually went to go visit the Bev headquarters and talked about meeting Alix. I had been following Bev since its inception. During Covid, actually, my brother reached for it along the pitch deck and basically said, ��Hey, I think this is something pretty interesting. Why don’t you follow up with Alix to see if there’s something here.” So personally, about three years ago. Professionally – Alix, what, about six months ago? Seven months ago?

AP: I didn’t know you knew us that early. I’m flattered.

S: I’ve been following Bev just as a regular consumer. To answer your question specifically, the reason why we were interested in Bev — and it goes back to what you were saying — is that from an innovation pipeline perspective, I have always wanted to develop a brand that was very not necessarily female-centric, but one that really spoke to a cultural trend that we’re seeing around women’s empowerment, around women founders and female entrepreneurship. I think that is something that is super on trend, and I think it’s here to stay. I really felt that authentically, Gallo, we didn’t have the permission to tell that story. So when we met Alix, I felt that if I were to create an organic brand, it would have been Bev. I think that what has always appealed to me about Bev is that it is extremely mission-driven. It has a very strong purpose, and I think great brands that are going to go ahead and accelerate in growth are ones with a strong purpose, combined with great mission, and with things that are culturally relevant.

A: First of all, explain to me what the partnership is, for those that aren’t aware. How did it come about?

S: So the partnership is pretty darn simple. Today’s the day actually— I texted Alix this morning at 6. Today is the day where the Gallo winery will basically be the distributor of Bev. We’re basically going into a distribution arrangement. Alex is going to continue doing what she’s doing. She’s still the owner of the brand. She’s still going to market the brand, and she’s going to continue doing what makes Bev successful, and Alix’s team will continue to run the operation.

A: OK, so you’ll be the ones getting it in-store. How will that work? Is Bev going to be able to take advantage, obviously, of Gallo’s access to great wine and things like that as well?

S: Eventually. But for right now, it’s working. When Alix and I talked about this partnership, I knew that she had a lot of opportunities and looked at many different arrangements. But I remember having a conversation with her and I said to her, “What makes Bev Bev is, quite candidly, the founder’s story and Alix’s involvement.” I think it’s critical to the success of this brand. For the health and success of what Bev stands for, we just think it’s absolutely critical that Alix and her wonderful team continue to stay involved and do what they do.

A: So what will marketing for this look like now? Alix, is that all of your team still running the message, running the Instagram, doing ad buys, things like that?

AP: Correct. One of the things that was so compelling to me about the Gallo team, and Steph in particular, is that she really believes (and I don’t mean to put words in your mouth) that us operating independently, and really being able to own that narrative and build the brand the way that’s created so much traction, is so important. When you talk to a lot of different strategics — for lack of a better word — and stuff of that nature, it tends to be like, “OK, great, you did this thing, I’m going to take it and I’m going to build it myself.” And the thing about the partnership with Gallo that’s just been so awesome is that Steph doesn’t believe that. She’s like, “What you guys are doing is working. It behooves the brand, and it would be painful for the brand to stop that.” I think partnership is the best word for what’s going on; it really is a partnership. We’re going to help every way we can in terms of having our ambassadors out there and stuff like that. But there’s no one better out there than Gallo when it comes to execution and wholesale. That’s a place that most brands falter, because it’s so expensive and it’s so difficult. Having that opportunity is just beyond… I get emotional when I talk about it.

A: So I will be honest; Stephanie is very famous for asking tough questions. So I have one for her, which is: So for the person that’s looking at this situation, is this like Casamigos? So is Gallo ultimately going to acquire Bev, and that this is sort of a middle position, where you guys can kind of see how it goes? Is this something separate? Is this a partnership that if you both don’t like it in a few years, you can walk away from? The first time I ever met Stephanie, she said to me, why haven’t you sold VinePair yet? I was like, “Because I’m not ready!” So, I mean, she asked me those questions. I have to ask her these questions.

S: Alix and I have had a lot of what we’re going to call “spiritual conversations” about this topic. For us, we’re just getting started. Ultimately, I think it really depends on what Alex wants to do with the brand moving forward. Right now — I honestly mean this — we’re very happy simply with the partnership around the distribution agreement. I think we have a lot to learn from Alix, and Alix has a lot to learn from us. I think that there’s value there.

A: That totally makes sense. Very good answer. So Alix, I think it’s interesting that you didn’t have a background in wine because I’m wondering if your experience around canned wine is actually the way we see most consumers experience it. I talked to somms who started canned wine brands. Every time we talk about the wine, they talk about how the wine is still poured into a glass. I think to myself, “I don’t know anyone who drinks canned wine that drinks from a glass.”.

AP: You’re speaking my language.

A: Like, no one drinks it out of a glass — come on, it’s canned wine for a reason. I’m curious, how are you seeing your consumer drink canned wine, and what do you think the wine industry is still getting wrong about canned wine? What are the stereotypes or the misconceptions people have about canned wine that are just flat wrong?

AP: It’s funny, because we joke in the office that our favorite compliment is, “Oh, it’s actually good.” We get this all the time. It’s funny because like I said, I had no money when I started out. So the can, in a way, was going to be our biggest marketing tool. I was like, “I need people drinking this out of the can. I need it to be directly consumed from the can because I need them holding the cans so that people can identify it and see and see what that is.” For me, it was a canned product from the get-go. Steph will probably roll over in her grave one day about this, but the first time that I went to a winery knowing nothing about anything I said the word I’m looking for is “chuggable.” I’ve since learned that the word I was looking for is “sessionable.” Anyways, I didn’t know any better. I think as someone who is simply a consumer, the way that we developed the product itself was just, I went to the store, I bought every rosé, every canned wine I could find, and I blind-taste-tested them. The results probably got significantly less detailed throughout that process of the tasting. It was just like, “What do I want to drink?” For our red wine, for example, I put that thing back into R&D three or four times because I was like, this, I don’t want to drink this straight out of the can. I don’t love this straight out of the can. Red is a tough one to crack. So I was like, “I need this to be one of the things that I want to drink every day.” Or every other day — it depends if Dad’s listening. So that was something that I thought was really important: what tastes good to me. We’re not vintage. We are the consumer of the brand. I think what a lot of people tend to miss in this category in general is that the can in and of itself is approachable. There needs to be an approachability to these products that are new in a way and that is fresh and that is really from the consumer’s perspective. I think that that was actually a huge edge that we had, in a way, because I didn’t even know what the three-tier liquor law was. I was Googling it. It’s very hard to find on Google. It turns out also it’s very hard to figure out when you know people who know everything about it. The other thing, too, is we did a couple tests, for example, with still canned wine. Ours is effervescent, slightly carbonated. We call it “a lil’ fizzy.” When we were trying different things, it was like, “Well, for example, people really expect that sound when they crack it open.” Things like that, where we really wanted it to be able to drink like something that you would normally drink out of a can, even though we’re still a still wine. When you pour it into a glass, that carbonation kind of goes away. I think that that’s the thing. People oftentimes are creating their canned wine as if they’re creating a bottled wine. To me, it’s a different category. I was asked a lot, especially at the beginning when there was not much of a market for canned wine, “What’s the market cap?” My response was, “Honestly, there was no market cap for energy drinks before Red Bull. Why should it matter what that looks like for us right now?” Because at the end of the day, if you do it right with the branding, if the product is delicious, you can create that market. I think that’s something that, together, we’re really going to be able to do.

A: So, Stephanie, I’m sure you see more new products than even I see. You’ve probably seen a ton of canned wine since the first ones started exploding five years ago or so with Underwood and stuff like that. Was it for you really about the brand, too, that made this such a compelling sell for you? Something that the wine industry — a lot of the wine industry besides, actually, your brands — don’t get: the understanding of brand. We think it’s just about the liquid in the bottle, or the can, etc., and that’s all that matters. But consumers love brands. So I’m curious if that is what caused Bev to stand out?

S: I think one of the hardest things about Covid — Alix and I talk about this all the time — is that we’re an organization that loves being what I call “boots on the ground.” Let’s get out. Let’s go talk to customers about it. Let’s go sense it firsthand. There are a lot of canned wine brands, but at the end of the day, based on the due diligence that we were able to accomplish, this one had the velocity that made it interesting for us in the accounts that they were in. I think that at the end of the day, it really does come back down to: It’s all about the brand. And the work that Alix and her team are doing to drive awareness in a very focused manner with the right audience. The rest is history.

A: As of today, because we’re recording this on March 1, you are saying you are now officially the distributor of the brand. Will we be able to find it pretty easily across the country soon?

S: It’s a great question. We are starting small, believe it or not, small for Gallo. So our aim is to expand the availability of these wines right now in targeted retail accounts and on-premise accounts in the United States. We have what we call a concentrate and breakthrough rollout. As far as we’re concerned, it’s still a very young brand. I think that Alix and our organization have a very common vision, and a shared vision, to grow in a responsible manner, and to grow where consumer demand is. And we’re able to identify where the consumer demand is based on the DTC sales that she’s been able to generate.

AP: If I can add to that super quickly: Small for Steph is huge for us. That’s what’s super exciting all around. I think the DTC portion is so interesting because it’s a new model — you don’t have to go in blind to these markets. That’s something a lot of brands don’t have the luxury of. It’s really awesome to see my team and Steph’s team work together and consume all of that information and be able to say, “Hey, we know we’re going to be successful in these places. Let’s go there.” That’s been really interesting. I think we’re learning on both sides, because I sure as heck don’t know how to execute like these folks do in the markets.

A: Well, this has been really fascinating. Alix, Stephanie, thank you so much for taking the time. I wish you great success in the near future as this thing really rolls out.

AP: Thank you. Thank you. And me, too!

S: Adam, all the best from the Gallo family. We appreciate all you do.

Thanks so much for listening to the VinePair podcast. If you love this show as much as we love making it, please give us a rating on review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or whatever it is you get. It really helps everyone else discover the show. Now for the credits. VinePair is produced and recorded in New York City, and in Seattle, Wash., by myself and Zach Geballe, who does all the editing and loves to get the credit.

Also, I would love to give a special shout-out to my VinePair co-founder, Josh Malin, for helping make all this possible, and also to Keith Beavers, VinePair’s tastings director, who is additionally a producer on the show. I also want to, of course, thank every other member of the VinePair team who are instrumental in all of the ideas that go into making the show every week. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article Next Round: Stephanie Gallo and Bev Founder Alix Peabody on Canned Wine and Female Empowerment appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/bev-canned-wine-gallo/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/next-round-stephanie-gallo-and-bev-founder-alix-peabody-on-canned-wine-and-female-empowerment

0 notes

khalilhumam · 5 years ago

Text

Benin's partial withdrawal from African Charter of Human Rights is a retreat from democracy

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/benins-partial-withdrawal-from-african-charter-of-human-rights-is-a-retreat-from-democracy/

Benin's partial withdrawal from African Charter of Human Rights is a retreat from democracy

The court is ‘once again the target of political attacks’

Regional conference on the death penalty in West and North Africa. Source: Guillaume Colin & Pauline Penot's Flickr account.

On April 23, Benin announced its withdrawal from a key document of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, a decision which threatens to limit citizen access to justice under its terms.

Alain Orounla, communications minister and chief spokesperson of the government of Benin, said that his country was withdrawing from the protocol of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) which allows a citizen or an organization to make a direct application to the African Court of Human Rights.

The ACHPR derives from an African intercontinental convention held under the auspices of the Organisation of African Unity, and ratified by Benin on January 20, 1986, with headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

Orounla's position, as given to the journalist Arnaud Doumanhoun:

… le Bénin reste parti à la Charte africaine des droits de l’Homme, continue d’œuvrer pour la protection, la sauvegarde des droits de l’homme. Sauf que le pays n’adhère plus au mécanisme ou à la procédure qui autorise les citoyens à saisir directement la Cour africaine des droits de l’homme

…Benin remains a party to the African Charter of Human Rights, and continues to strive toward the protection and safeguarding of human rights. With this exception: the country no longer adheres to the mechanism or the procedure which authorise citizens to make direct application to the African Court of Human Rights.

Sévérin Quenum, minister of justice and legislation, justified the withdrawal in a declaration, reported by journalist Raymond Falade:

Depuis plusieurs années déjà, certaines décisions rendues par la Cour africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples ont suscité de très vives préoccupations en raison « de graves incongruités au point de conduire la Tanzanie, pays hôte, et le Rwanda, à se désengager en matière de recours individuels et des Ong.

For several years now, certain rulings made by the African Court of Human and People's Rights have given grave cause for concern because of ‘severe anomalies which have driven Tanzania, its host country, and Rwanda, to withdraw from participation over individual and NGO access arrangements.’

It would nonetheless seem that the door of the African Court of Human and People's Rights is not totally closed to Benin citizens. Nathaniel Kitti, president of the Beninese Movement For the Defence of Human Rights (MBDH), writes:

ce retrait ne ferme pas définitivement leur accès à la Cour pour revendiquer le respect de leurs droits garantis par la Charte africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples. A en croire ledit communiqué, «conformément à l’article 119.4 de son Règlement Intérieur, ils peuvent présenter des communications devant la Commission Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples sans qu’un Etat partie puisse s’y opposer ».

…this withdrawal does not block absolutely their access to the court to claim protection of their rights as guaranteed by the African Charter of Human and People's Rights. According to the above communiqué, ‘in accordance with Article 119.4 of its Rules of Procedure, they may present communications to the African Commission on Human and People's Rights with no State having the right to object.’

Benin's recent embarrassment: The sentencing of Sébastien Ajavon

One of the reasons which could explain Benin's partial withdrawal is a judicial case going back to October 2018. The Benin businessman and politician, Sébastien Ajavon, had just been sentenced to 20 years in prison plus a fine of 5 million CFA francs (nearly $8,400 United States dollars), by the Court for the Prevention of Economic and Terrorist Offences. The accused being at the time outside Benin, the court had issued an international arrest warrant against him. His lawyers had appealed to the ACHPR, which, in March 2019, after several delays, had ordered the Benin state to quash Ajavon's conviction and to pay compensation of approximately 40 billion CFA francs (around $66 million USD) to him. Sébastien Ajavon also complained to the ACHPR against the exclusion of his party, the Social Democratic Union, from the local elections called for May 17, 2020. Here again, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff and ordered Benin state to suspend elections, until such time as the court could examine Ajavon's deposition. Journalist F. Aubin Ahéhéhinnou writes about the reaction of Benin's bar association official arbiter of disputes, Maitre Cyrille Djikui, one of the lawyers allocated by the Beninese government to his defense:

Pour le Bâtonnier, la juridiction continentale s’autorise trop de choses, et interfère « un peu trop dans les affaires des Etats ». « On a l’impression que les Etats n’ont plus de souveraineté, les Etats ne peuvent plus s’auto-déterminer »

For the arbiter, the continental jurisdiction is exceeding its brief, and interfering ‘a little too much in the affairs of states…One gets the impression that States no longer have sovereignty, that states can no longer exercise self-determination.’

Major setback for freedom of speech

Democracy in Benin seems to have been sharply set back since Patrice Talon's election to the country's presidency in April 2016. The politician is also a businessman, ranking 15th in the wealth stakes in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa, and thus wields power in his country. But the government's decision to withdraw from the protocol provoked strong feelings among human rights activists like Samira Daoud, regional director of Amnesty International for West and Central Africa:

La Cour africaine des droits de l’Homme et des Peuples est une fois de plus la cible d’attaques politiques de gouvernements peu respectueux des droits humains. Le Bénin par ce geste sape les efforts de construire un système régional crédible et efficace de protection des droits humains.

The African Court of Human and People's Rights is once again the target of political attacks by those governments with little regard for human rights. By this act, Benin is undermining efforts to build a credible and effective regional system of human rights protection.

Benin's digital communications law 2017-20, of April 20, 2018, includes some clauses that criminalize the publication of false information. Amnesty International commented on this law and stated:

Au moins 17 journalistes, blogueurs et opposants ont été poursuivis en moins de deux ans en vertu d’une loi en vigueur dont certaines dispositions répressives mettent en péril la liberté d’expression et la liberté des médias au Bénin…

At least 17 journalists, bloggers and oppositionists have been prosecuted in under two years under a law currently in force, whose repressive provisions are putting freedom of speech and freedom of the media in peril in Benin…

In less than a month, two journalists, Ignace Sossou and Aristide Fassinou Hounkpevim, and eight other cyberactivists, had become the latest victims of this law's repressive provisions. Beninese human rights militants have been no less vocal in denouncing the government's latest withdrawal announcement. For example, Renaud Fiacre Avless, a lawyer and Amnesty International coordinator in Benin, tweeted on Twitter:

Les #droits de l’#Homme sont en deuil au @229.le 23 avril, le Bénin a annoncé le retrait de la Déclaration au Protocole portant création de la Cour africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples . Les citoyens béninois ne peuvent plus saisir directement la Cour Africaine @kikanfr @kikanfr — Renaud Fiacre Avless (@Avlessifiacre) April 24, 2020

#HumanRights RIP at 229 [Benin's international dialling code prefix] as of 23 April, Benin announced its withdrawal from the Declaration and founding protocol of the African Court of Human and People's Rights. Beninese citizens can no longer make direct application to the African Court

Deo Gratias Kindoho, a journalist at the radio and television broadcasting office of Benin, tweeted:

Le #Bénin dégringole encore au class #RSF, 113è sur 180. – 17 places. Au dernier class, il chutait déjà de 12 rangs. Au moment où Patrice Talon prenait le pouvoir, le pays était 78è. Il venait de gagner 6 places ce mois-là, Avril 2016. — Deo Gratias Kindoho (@dgkindoho) April 21, 2020

#Benin tumbles further down the #RSF Index, to 113th out of 180 – 17 places lower. By the last Index, it had already dropped 12 places. At Patrice Talon's coming to power, the country was 78th. It had gone up 6 places that very month, April 2016.

< p class='gv-rss-footer'>Written by Abdoulaye Bah Translated by Adam Long · · View original post [fr] · comments (0) Donate · Share this: twitter facebook reddit

0 notes

todaynewsstories · 7 years ago

Text

Theresa May to address EU leaders in Brexit play′s next act | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent | DW

Raise the curtain for the grand finale of the Brexit drama, which has been keeping the European Union — but mainly the United Kingdom — in suspense since the referendum in June 2016.

Ahead of Wednesday’s summit in Brussels, British Prime Minister Theresa May will have 15 minutes to persuade the 27 other EU heads of state and government that her version of Brexit is the better one. It’s important to keep a cool head, she told the House of Commons. According to British media, May hasn’t prepared new propositions. Debates and negotiations are not planned. The prime minister is scheduled to leave before dinner is served.

Only then will May’s foil, EU negotiator Michel Barnier, take the stage to summarize his view of where the Brexit talks stand. The 27 EU member states will assure one another that they all want a tidy exit deal with the UK, but are not willing to sacrifice such fundamentals as the bloc’s internal market. For dessert, it’s time to decide whether the drama is to continue for another act — i.e., whether there should be a special summit in mid-November on the exasperating Brexit issue.

Time is running out, but May stressed to British Parliament this week that a Brexit deal remains ‘achievable’

Next act in November?

Though May believes that the EU and her negotiators are close to a deal, officials in Germany and France assume that there will be another act to this drama in November.

Whether a solution comes about in November or not, Republic of Ireland Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has already brought up the possibility of yet another summit in December. The European Union is “relatively relaxed,” a senior EU diplomat said, adding that the bloc would continue to negotiate “until the British end the whole thing.” Britain’s Parliament would still have to approve the accord.

Read more: Will Brits say ‘au revoir’ to French dream post-Brexit?

At the moment, May, whose government depends on an alliance with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, has no easy route to a majority for any of the Brexit treaties so far proposed. And yet the UK is scheduled to exit the EU at midnight Central European Time on March 29, 2019 — 11 p.m. March 28 in London.

EU negotiator Barnier (left) still has plenty to go over with his UK counterpart, Dominic Raab

All or nothing?

The representatives of various EU governments say the bloc is prepared for the possibility that the drama could conclude in a bitter dispute and with no agreement at all — even after three, four or five acts are tacked on to the production. At Wednesday’s summit, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is scheduled to give a speech on the topic. Border controls and customs posts are being prepared in the ports of northern France and at the Channel Tunnel, France’s European affairs minister said.

Britain’s government is also preparing decrees and handouts for companies in case of a “no deal” scenario. Officials from both Britain and the EU stress that they would prefer a treaty. The bloc’s version would include a two-year transition period, regulate the rights of British citizens in the EU and EU citizens in the UK, and have the United Kingdom ponying up a €39 billion ($45 billion) settlement bill.

Read more: Hard Brexit could trigger ‘massive crisis,’ warns German industry

Currently, each side is playing up the drama to impress the other. Who will blink? A draft agreed to by negotiators over the weekend was immediately refused in London. Officially, there have been no negotiations since then. Behind the scenes, however, the teams are still drafting the cript.

The Republic of Ireland-Northern Ireland border has been a repeated sticking point in Brexit talks

The border between the Republic of Ireland, in the EU, and Northern Ireland, in the UK, is the pivotal plot point. All actors would like for it to remain invisible so as not to endanger the peace in Northern Ireland. The EU has proposed keeping Northern Ireland in the bloc for the time being and drawing a new border in the sea between Northern Ireland and the UK, a suggestion May refused, invoking the unity of “our kingdom.” May wants the UK to have continued access to EU trade and to avoid the imposition of a border entirely. Whether that would be permanent or limited is also a matter of dispute, as is the question of whether the treaty should contain an unlimited insurance clause — the Irish border Brexit backstop — for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland if the EU and the UK do not manage to achieve a new trade agreement.

Read more: Musicians and dog owners in London urge Theresa May to reconsider Brexit

Critics of the drama, such as the Brussels-based BusinessEurope lobby group, charge that it would be in no one’s interest to let Brexit go ahead on March 29 without a treaty. “The closer we get to the exit date, the more urgent it is to come up with a treaty that stipulates a transitional period,” said Pierre Gattaz, BusinessEurope’s chairman.

Or, as Joachim Lang, the director general of the Federation of German Industries, put it: “Fear of the abyss” should be the actors’ inspiration.

The post Theresa May to address EU leaders in Brexit play′s next act | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent | DW appeared first on Today News Stories.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2P2hwoN via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

0 notes