Pax Gaea Human Rights World Post

PAX GAEA WORLD POST HUMAN RIGHTS HEADLINES MONDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2006

• Two years after tsunami, Indonesia's Aceh floods, thousands homeless, hundreds feared dead
• UK Foreign Office slaps archbishop's comments about policy adding to Mideast instability
• Bhutan's constitutional provision allowing only college graduates to run for office causes row
• Israel's Olmert agrees to remove 27 West Bank roadblocks, though hundreds remain
• Christian patriarch of Jerusalem gives solution to Israel/Palestine conflict "All you need is love"
• Small Peruvian tribe shuts down oil production and wins major concessions from big oil and Peru
• U2's Bono knighted for tireless effort on behalf of Africa's poor
• Pakistanis not big on democracy, Southeast Asia survey shows
• Japan hangs four death row inmates
• The waves of Hurricane Katrina could not dampen the Christmas spirit of one Mississippi family

Thousands homeless as Aceh floods kill 114

Lindsay Murdoch in Jakarta and agencies

THE worst floods in decades have hit Indonesia's Aceh province, killing at least 114 people and devastating villages. As the region at the northern tip of Sumatra continues to struggle to recover from the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, Acehnese have been battered by days of torrential downpours that have caused raging floodwaters to submerge tens of thousands of houses and wash away roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Indonesia's state-run Antara news agency said 700 soldiers had been sent to the province to boost relief efforts after the death toll rose to 114, with hundreds missing and 170,000 people forced from their homes.Witnesses said many houses were submerged to rooftops, while some entire villages had been washed away. The United Nations has pledged an initial $US2 million ($2.5 million) in emergency aid.Sydney Morning Herald (12/25)

Foreign Office raps Archbishop of Canterbury

THE OBSERVER, LONDON

A serious row between church and state broke out on Saturday night in the UK after the Foreign Office rebuked the Archbishop of Canterbury for accusing the government of putting Christians across the Middle East at risk because of its "shortsighted" and "ignorant" policy in Iraq. Writing in a newspaper yesterday, Rowan Williams said the consequences of Anglo-American foreign policy have been the erosion of good relations between Muslim and Christian communities. "One warning often made and systematically ignored in the hectic days before the Iraq War was that Western military action ... would put Christians in the whole Middle East at risk," Williams wrote. "The results are now painfully adding to what was already a difficult situation for Christian communities across the region." Williams, who is currently visiting Israel, said that thousands of Christians were fleeing Iraq every few months, while some priests had been murdered. The Foreign Office, however, said that while the church leaders were entitled to their views, they were wrong to blame British foreign policy."It's not the policies of the UK which are causing suffering for Christians in Iraq or the Middle East," said a Foreign Office spokesman. "It's the fact that there are intolerant extremists inflicting pain and suffering on people. These extremists are indiscriminately killing Christians, moderate Muslims, Sunnis and peoples of all faiths." Taipei Times (Taiwan) (12/25)

Row over Bhutan's transition to democracy

Agence France-Presse

A row has erupted over the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan's planned transition from royal rule to constitutional monarchy, reports said on Sunday. The complaints centre around a provision in a draft constitution which stipulates that only university graduates can contest the Buddhist kingdom's first general elections, which are scheduled to take place in 2008."The education criteria would take away rights of the people. There would not be mass representation," the deputy speaker in Bhutan's national assembly, Zhamling Dorji, was quoted as saying by the national newspaper Kuensel. The 34-point draft constitution has been sent to the Bhutanese people for their views ahead of the elections. Only 42 per cent people in Bhutan are literate and the country has 11,000 graduates among its 600,000 people. "Should we allow our population to be represented by the two percent who are graduates?" Dorji said. Hindustan Times (India) (12/25)

Olmert approves removal of 27 West Bank roadblocks

By GIL HOFFMAN JPOST STAFF AND AP

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert approved a proposal to remove 27 West Bank roadblocks during a meeting with Defense Minister Amir Peretz and senior security officials on Monday evening. Nevertheless, the prime minister said that security officials still must determine which roadblocks would be dismantled and when they would be removed. A statement from Olmert's office said that the prime minister approved streamlining checkpoints and removing roadblocks "to strengthen moderate (Palestinian) elements." Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said inspections would be eased at 16 checkpoints, and 27 unmanned roadblocks would be removed. Also, the Kerem Shalom and Karni crossings for people and cargo between Gaza and Israel would be upgraded "in order to accelerate the economy in Gaza to lessen the poverty and despair." Earlier, Peretz told members of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that he sought the removal of 57 checkpoints. The proposal was first suggested by Sneh at a meeting with Peretz on Sunday night. Jerusalem Post (12/25)

Heed the patriarch of Jerusalem: All You Need is Love

Rami Khouri discusses Christian love in a Muslim-majority society with Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah.

BEIRUT -- “A commandment of love” was the theme that the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, stressed when I asked him last week about what Arab Christians should be doing to address the many challenges and threats in the Middle East today. I was especially interested in the role of Arab Christians because their plight is highlighted this Christmas week, while a delegation of UK church leaders makes a timely Holy Land pilgrimage. Christians experience the same pressures and challenges as the majority Muslim Arab people living under Israeli occupation, the assault of Western armies, or the incompetent, autocratic mismanagement of their own Arab political leaders. A strangled Bethlehem, though, is likely to catch the attention of Western citizens and church leaders more than a stressed Alexandria, Aleppo or Casablanca. The four pilgrims are Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Moderator of the Free Churches the Rev. David Coffey, and primate of the Armenian Church of Great Britain Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian.The focal point of their four-day visit is a pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Their trip and witness will help Christians and other people of good faith around the world better appreciate the impact of the Israeli occupation on all palestinians, including Christian communities. His Beatitude Michel Sabbah welcomed the pilgrimage and noted that, “At a time when our communities in the two Holy cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem are separated by a wall and checkpoints, the visit of the churches’ ecumenical delegation is a reminder to us, to the Israelis and the palestinians, and to the world, that the pilgrims’ path of hope and love must remain open.” Al Jazeera (Qatar) 12/25

A victory for the little guy

Dan Collyns

Iquitos, Peru- It was by any measure a remarkable protest. More than 800 Achuar tribespeople from the borders of Peru and Ecuador, headed by their traditional leaders with their red and yellow feathered headdresses, arrived by the boatload in the twilight hours at four oil wells in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest.Their faces streaked with paint and with people carrying hunting hotguns and ceremonial spears, they formed a peaceful blockade of Peru’s largest oil facility. They stayed for nearly two weeks, shutting down power to most of the region’s oil production, and its road, airport and river access. It was a desperate attempt by the Achuar to get the Peruvian government to take notice of their plight. For decades they had been saying that their land had been heavily polluted and their waters poisoned by oil exploration, but they had been consistently ignored. The ploy worked. The loss of millions of dollars in revenue and around 40 000 barrels of oil per day forced the government and Pluspetrol -- Peru’s largest oil and gas operator -- to concede to most of the Achuar’s demands, including re-injecting all the contaminated waste water back into the ground within two years, and building a new hospital with enough money to run a health service for 10 years. The victory was particularly sweet for the Achuar -- who number about 8 000 in Peru’s vast Amazon region of Loreto -- because it was the only time in 36 years of oil exploration and extraction in their area that the state had intervened. Companies have long been given carte blanche to flout international environmental laws. Mail & Guardian (South Africa) (12/25)

Arise, Sir Bono! It's a beautiful day for the singer who uses his voice to help Africa

He is not a businessman, he's not a leading Labour donor, he's not even a member of the Royal Family. But after 20 years of charity work and lobbying on debt relief, the Irishman will be knighted. By Anthony Barnes

Bono, the global rock star and poverty campaigner, was Saturday given an honorary knighthood in recognition of his tireless humanitarian work. The U2 lead singer, who has been able to gain the ear of Pope, the US President and other world leaders in his campaign for debt relief for Africa, has been recognised for both his two decades of aid work as well as services to music.Bono, 46, has devoted huge efforts to seeking the cancellation of African debt, raising Aids awareness and improving human rights.Receiving news of the honour yesterday, Bono, who was in Dublin with his family in preparation for Christmas, said he was "very flattered". The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was among those to voice praise for the singer yesterday. In a letter to Bono, Mr Blair said he had played an invaluable role in the run-up to last year's G8 summit which had a focus on helping poor nations in Africa. He said: "I know from talking to you how much these causes matter to you. I know as well how knowledgeable you are about the problems we face and how determined you are to do all you can to help overcome them. You have tirelessly used your voice to speak up for Africa." Independent (United Kingdom) (12/25)

Most Pakistanis favour military rule: survey

Argentina Star/IANS

A majority of Pakistanis favour army rule. But that is preferred the least in India. This is a survey on choices of the people of South Asia. Six out of 10 Pakistanis prefer military administration, said the report, adding that higher the education, lower is the support for the army. The survey was conducted in five South Asian countries - Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka, which has had an unbroken record of democratic functioning, loves democracy the most. Bangladesh, going to the most contentious polls next month, comes second as the most upbeat nation when it comes to democracy. Democratic values were one of the principal reasons for Bangladesh parting from Pakistan. But it has had phases of military rule and military-guided democracies during 1975-90. India comes third in terms of democratic preferences, says the survey 'Study of Democracy in South Asia' by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in collaboration with the International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Stockholm and Department of Sociology, Oxford University. Half of Pakistanis are not keen on democracy, the CSDS survey said, ostensibly reflective of the sentiment in urban areas that have been critical of the two short-lived tenures of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Argentina Star (12/25)

Four prisoners executed in Japan

Four prisoners on death row in Japan have been hanged, the country's justice ministry has said. They are the country's first executions under Japan's new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. Japan, like the United States, is one of the world's few developed countries to exercise capital punishment. It has been reported that those hanged included a taxi driver convicted of four murders. The last hanging in Japan was in September 2005. The inmates have been identified as Yoshimitsu Akiyama, Yoshio Fujinami, Michio Fukuoka and Hiroaki Hidaka. Kyodo News and Jiji Press report that Hidaka, a taxi driver in Hiroshima, was convicted of murdering a girl and three women. BBC (12/25)

Salvaged from Katrina, a 'cheap' tradition becomes A Christmas classic

Brothers send same card back and forth for decades

By MICHAEL NEWSOM

GAUTIER - Believe it or not, sometimes there's almost nothing better than getting a used Christmas card from the brother you've always accused of being a cheapskate. Former Gautier resident Robert Martin disagreed with his brother, Steve Martin of Birmingham, who had called him cheap. He insisted he was more accurately characterized as "frugal." During the 1985 Christmas season that will now likely live in the Martin family folklore forever, the accused miser mailed his brother a card he had gotten from a co-worker named Rose. He used her signature to begin a poem."Roses are red. Violets are blue. A nice used Christmas card, especially for you," the card read when it got to Steve. As the two constantly joked with each other, it was genius, Robert Martin believed. "I put the little 's' on her name," Robert Martin said, laughing hard. "I made up a poem, sent it to him and that's all he got for Christmas, the best I can remember." Not to be outdone, Steve Martin mailed it back to his brother a year later with the inscription, "it's better the third time around," starting a family tradition that continues today. The card was exchanged almost every year with new inscriptions and pictures of pets tucked inside.But the card was at Robert Martin's home in the Point Clear area of Gautier when Hurricane Katrina rendered the house unlivable.Last year in Birmingham, Steve's wife, Linda Martin, woke up about 10 days before Christmas and said she believed the card had been destroyed in the storm. The couple was heartbroken."It is like we lost part of Christmas," Steve Martin said. "It's like somebody said there is no Santa Claus or Santa Claus had a wreck in his sleigh and won't be here tonight. It was a real downer."But the card, almost as if sent by Santa Claus himself, appeared at their Birmingham home just in time for the holidays. "Both of us had tears coming in our eyes," Steve Martin said. Robert's wife, Glenda Martin, had scoured the remnants of their Gautier home looking for things to save, and she found the card tucked away in a room on the second floor with little damage from the storm, save an inkblot. "It was dear to us because we had sent it back and forth for so many years," Robert Martin said. "Beware of girls named Katrina," was the warning the card bore when it was sent back from storm-battered Gautier to Birmingham last year. Sun Herald (Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi) (12/25)

posted by Dave Carroll @ 12/25/2006 04:03:00 PM