PAX GAEA WORLD POST HUMAN RIGHTS HEADLINES SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2006
Andaman Islands residents flee as Earthquake strikes islands devastated by 2004 tsunami- Castro a no show as Cuban National Assembly called to session
- Lebanese legislative leader refuses to receive petition calling for tribunal for Hariri assassination
- UN nukes resolution "illegal", states Iran
- Israeli PM grants concessions to Palestinian Abbas
- Algerian human rights violations against Moroccans question in EU panel
- Amnesty International conscriptions mass arrest report dismissed by Eritrea government
- Nazi death camp guard "Ivan The Terrible" faces deportation back to Ukraine from United States
- Venezuela rejects U.S. Senate report condemning treatment of NGO's
- Archbishop of Canterbury criticizes Israel wall on pilgrimage to Bethlehem
Residents flee as earthquake hits
From correspondents in the Andaman Islands
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck India's Andaman Islands today, prompting residents fearful of a repeat of the deadly 2004 tsunami to flee their homes, geologists and witnesses said. The earthquake occurred at 1:20 am (0650 AEDT), some 115 kilometres south-southwest of the local capital Port Blair, according to the US Geological Survey. There were no reports of damage or casualties following the quake, which occurred at a depth of 45 kilometres. But residents of the archipelago wrecked by the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami raced from their homes and sought higher ground. "The memories of 2004 are still vivid on their minds so when the quake struck, the level of panic was much greater,'' council chief of tsunami-shattered Hut Bay Island, C. Palaniswamy, said. Officials both in the Andamans and at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii said today's quake had not sparked a tsunami alert. "Nevertheless, people were in great panic,'' said Poritosh Haldar, a college teacher in Port Blair. Herald Sun (Australia) (12/23)
No sighting, no mention of Fidel Castro in Cuban Assembly
HAVANA - Cuba's National Assembly speaker Ricardo Alarcon opened the body's key annual session Friday with no mention whatsoever of ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who did not attend. Amid uncertainty over the health of the 80-year-old Castro, there was an empty seat where he normally sits. The Cuban leader has missed just one other gathering of the assembly in three decades. Castro ceded power officially, but temporarily, on July 31 to his brother Raul Castro, 75, the defense chief. Fidel Castro underwent surgery in July after intestinal bleeding. The absence of Fidel, unseen in public since he underwent surgery in July, spotlights the looming question about the future of Cuba -- the only communist-ruled country in the Americas -- and who will lead it, beyond the Castro brothers.Raul, 75, strongly suggested during a 35-minute speech late Wednesday to the University Students' Federation (FEU) that the time had come for a changing of the guard. "Whether we like it or not, we're already coming to the end of our duties," he said. "We have to yield to the new generations ... or continue to lead the way for the new generations, gradually of course." ABS-CBN (Philippines) (12/23)
Lebanon's parliament executive refuses to receive petition over Hariri tribunal
Lebanese parliament's Secretary- General Adnan Daher has refused to receive a petition calling for ratifying a draft law on forming an international tribunal to try suspects in ex-premier Rafik Hariri's assassination, local Naharnet reported on Friday. Adnan Daher made the refusal after he received the petition on Thursday, which, signed by 70 lawmakers of the 128-member legislation, calls on Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to summon the house to vote on the plan. The document was later mailed to Berri, a close ally of the opposition Shiite movement Hezbollah, via Liban Post, an express mail service in the country, according to the report. Daher was quoted as saying that he rejected the plan "because the draft law was not submitted to parliament." The draft law was published by the official gazette on Dec. 14, following the refusal of President Emile Lahoud to sign it in 15 days in accordance with the nation's constitution. Lahoud refused to sign the document because it was referred to him by what he regards as a non-constitutional government after six pro-Syrian ministers resigned last month from the cabinet of premier Fouad Seniora that enjoys the backing of a parliamentary majority. People's Daily Online/Xinhua (China) (12/23)
Iran calls UN resolution 'invalid' and 'illegal'
Tehran, (AP): Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday rejected as ``invalid'' and ``illegal'' a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. Iran also vowed to continue its nuclear program. ``Iran considers the new U.N. Security Council resolution ... an extralegal act outside the frame of its responsibilities and against the U.N. charter,'' a Foreign Ministry statement said on Saturday. The statement read on state-run television said Iran won't heed the decision by the United Nations Security Council and will continue pursue its enrichment activities. ``The Iranian nation has not delegated its destiny to the invalid decisions of the U.N. Security Council and won't do so (in the future),'' it said. The resolution, adopted unanimously on Saturday, orders all countries to ban the supply of specified materials and technology that could contribute to Iran's nuclear and missile programs. It also imposes an asset freeze on key companies and individuals in the country's nuclear and missile programs named on a U.N. list. The Hindu (India) (12/23)
Israeli officials: PM agrees to concessions to bolster Abbas
By Aluf Benn, Avi Issacharoff and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies Israeli officials said Saturday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to make some concessions to help bolster Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is in a power struggle with the ruling Islamic militant group Hamas. The leaders held talks at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem for two hours Saturday evening. The Israeli officials said there was no deal on the key issue of a prisoner release involving kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. An aide to Abbas said the Palestinian Authority chairman and Olmert reached agreement Saturday evening on "several issues." "This is the beginning of a series of meetings. It was a good meeting. There was agreement on several issues," Nabil Abu Rudeinah said. Ha'aretz (Israel) (12/23)
Euro-Parliamentarian questions EC on human rights breaches in Tindouf Camps
Brussels, Dec. 23 - German socialist euro-parliamentarian, Vural Oger has addressed a query to the European Commission on the measures it plans to take in order to "get the Polisario and Algeria (...) cooperate with a view to shedding light on the committed breaches, indemnifying victims and identifying the perpetrators and sending them before justice." The document affirms that "the testimonies of the Moroccan former detainees speak of exactions and ill-treatments," asserting that these testimonies "were largely corroborated by probes led by several international NGOs." The paper is referring to the human rights breaches committed against the Moroccans sequestered in the Polisario-run Tindouf camps, southwestern Algeria. The Polisario, which enjoys full and unconditional support from Algeria, is laying claims, since 1976, to Morocco's Southern Provinces -The Sahara - a territory that Morocco retrieved in 1975 from the Spanish rule under the Madrid Accords. Maghreb Arab Presse (Morocco) (12/23)
Eritrea dismisses rights reports on mass arrests
Asmara, Eritrea- Eritrea dismissed on Friday reports by Amnesty International that accused the Red Sea state of arresting 500 parents of people who fled the country illegally to avoid conscription. Asmara routinely denies rights criticism from abroad, saying the world has long been prejudiced against it and in favour of the Horn of Africa's main power, Ethiopia. "We will not spend our time running after daily accusations from that institution which doesn't do any work except making such kinds of statements every day," Information Minister Ali Abdu told Reuters by telephone. National service officially lasts for 18 months, but in many cases is extended for several years. Almost one in 10 residents is conscripted. "None of those arrested has been charged with a criminal offence or taken to court within the 48 hours stipulated by the Constitution and laws of Eritrea," the United States-branch of Amnesty said in a statement late on Thursday. Mail & Guardian (South Africa) (12/23)
US 'Nazi guard' faces deportation
An 85-year-old man accused of having been a guard at a Nazi death camp has lost an appeal against his deportation from the US to his native Ukraine. John Demjanjuk, who was ordered to be deported a year ago, can still make a further appeal against this ruling. He has denied the allegations and his lawyers argued he would be tortured if sent back to Ukraine. Mr Demjanjuk migrated to the US in 1951 and was briefly deported to Israel amid a 30-year legal battle over his past. At the time, he was suspected of having been a notorious concentration camp guard, known by the nickname "Ivan the Terrible". But his name was eventually cleared in an Israeli court and he was spared the death penalty. BBC (12/23)
Venezuela rejects U.S. Senate criticism of its treatment of NGOs
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela took issue Friday with a U.S. Senate report criticizing its stance toward nongovernment organizations, saying such groups are treated fairly and that Washington should mind its own business. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the Senate Foreign Relations Committee report on NGOs in various countries reveals a segment within the U.S. government "who are blind, who continue on with the old scheme of seeing us as their backyard.'' The report, sought by the Republican committee chairman, Sen. Richard Lugar, said "pending legislation by the Venezuelan National Assembly to regulate and control the ability and work of NGOs is worrisome.'' The report also said that under President Hugo Chavez, who was re-elected to a six-year term Dec. 3, "Venezuela has demonstrated a blatant disregard for independent civil society actors (and) any form of political dissent.''Maduro denied the report's findings, saying they reflected "an imperialist vision.'' He did not comment on the possibility that Venezuela could approve a new law on NGOs. As initially proposed several months ago, the reforms would require NGOs to register with the government and declare their funding sources. Inside Venezulea/ West Virginia Gazette (12/23)
Anglican leader criticizes Israeli wall
THE ASSOCIATED PRESSLONDON -- The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said Friday during a pilgrimage to Bethlehem, that the Israeli-built wall around the traditional site of Jesus' birth symbolized what was "deeply wrong in the human heart," a British news agency reported. Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, is on a four-day trip to the Holy Land along with other British church leaders. After six years of Israel-Palestinian fighting, the town is now walled in by Israel's West Bank separation barrier. Poverty is deepening and Christians are leaving in droves. "The wall which we walked through a little while ago is a sign not simply of a passing problem in the politics of one region; it is sign of some of the things that are most deeply wrong in the human heart itself," Williams told his fellow church leaders, according to Britain's Press Association."We are here to say that security for one is security for all. For one to live under threat, whether of occupation, or of terror, is a problem for all, and a pain for all," he was quoted as saying.Israel says the wall is meant to stop Palestinian suicide bombers but Palestinians see it as land grab. Seattle Post/Intelligencer (12/23)
posted by Dave Carroll @ 12/23/2006 03:32:00 PM
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