Pax Gaea Human Rights World Post

PAX GAEA WORLD POST HUMAN RIGHTS HEADLINES THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2007

• New Peruvian program tries to switch farmers from coca to rare fish
• AIDS orphans of Lesotho a growing concern, receive new subsistence program
• Barbados furiously battling malaria
• Backlash from Saddam's 'hanging' video forces Iraq to postpone execution of fellow accused
• UN appeals to Kenya to allow Somali asylum seekers entry to escape conflict
• Government, Tamils must stop fighting in Sri Lanka in light of civilian deaths, UN demands
• Fiji coup leader's handover of power a sham, accuses New Zealand foreign minister
• California congressman pushing resolution condemning Japan for 'sex slavery'
• Venezuela's Chavez intent on creating one large leftist party with him as its center
• First U.S. woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, takes the gavel and oath

In Peru, a move to get farmers to trade in fish rather than coca

A new program aims to help coca growers raise paiche, a huge, endangered fish known for its flaky meat.By Lucien O. Chauvin Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor PUCALLPA, PERU – Teofilo Tapullima knows first hand the dangers that lurk beneath the muddy waters of Peru's Amazon jungle: Piranhas, fresh-water rays, and the giant paiche fish, to name a few. "It came flying at me and slammed into my forehead. It gave me a headache, but luckily it was a small fish. If it had been a big one, I probably would have been blinded," he says. A throwback to prehistoric times, with armored scales and a flat head, the paiches must come to the surface to breathe, making them easy targets for harpoon fishermen. But overfishing to meet demand for their delicious, flaky, boneless meat is wiping out paiche populations, and is now spurring efforts to save the fish, including a fish-farm venture that aims to provide local coca leaf growers with an alternative livelihood that does not fuel the illicit drug trade. "This fish will be history in 10 to 15 years, unless something is done," says Fausto Hinostroza, who runs the Research Institute of the Peruvian Amazon, where Mr. Tapullima works. Mr. Hinostroza's center has partnered with the Ucayali state government to work on a fish-farming plan that would repopulate lakes with paiches, while creating opportunities to sell the fish for its meat. He recently found out just how tricky a paiche can be when he had to net one at the research institute where he works outside Pucallpa, in northern Peru. Christian Science Monitor (1/4)

LESOTHO: New policy to help orphans and vulnerable children

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

MASERU, 3 Jan 2007 (IRIN/PLUSNEWS) - Lesotho's government has approved a policy to care for its growing population of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). "The policy comes at a time when, irrespective of gender, orphaned children are exposed to various forms of abuse and exploitation, including ... prostitution, sexual abuse, child labour, early marriage, maltreatment and neglect by caretakers, poor health and inability to access and afford essential services," said Itumeleng Kimane, a senior lecturer at the National University of Lesotho, who complied a report on OVC for the government in 2004. The policy, which will cost about US$1.3 million a year for the next five years, aims to provide free education, health services, sports and recreation facilities, and set up small-scale businesses to make the children and their caregivers economically self-sufficient. IRIN News (UN News Agency) (1/4)

Officials 'doing all' to keep malaria out

BARBADOS IS doing all in its power to keep malaria at bay. And although there were cases of the disease in Barbados in recent times, Environmental Health Specialist in the Ministry of Health Ronald Chapman yesterday said that the parasite that caused malaria was not in the island. "Any cases of malaria we have found in Barbados over the years have been persons who would have gone out to other areas, other countries where malaria is spreading, got themselves infected and came home not knowing they were infected and became sick while they were here or maybe came home feeling a little ill and had to be hospitalised," he said. He and clinical consultant for infectious diseases in the Ministry of Health, Dr Nicholas Adomakoh spoke separately to the media after addressing a seminar for public and private health workers on Strengthening the Laboratory Diagnosis of Malaria at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies. The Nation (Barbados) 1/4

Iraq Delays Execution of Saddam's Co-Defendants

Baghdad has decided to postpone hanging Saddam Hussein's half brother and his former chief justice -- apparently bowing to pressure from the United Nations as well as protests over the clandestine video of Saddam's death. The two men had been expected to hang on Thursday. Iraq has not set a date to hang Saddam Hussein's two co-defendants, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office said Thursday morning. Reports on Wednesday suggested that the two would hang on Thursday -- just after the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha -- but the United Nations has appealed to Baghdad not to execute the men. An aide to Maliki, who declined to be named, said the execution of Saddam's two co-defendants had been delayed due to "international pressure." He wouldn't say when the executions might take place, but Baha al-Araji, a Shiite member of the Iraqi parliament, told Agence France-Presse, "I am sure it will be done on Sunday." Der Spiegel (Germany) (1/4)

Crisis looms for refugees in Somalia

UN official raises alarm after Kenya seals border, turning away hundreds of asylum seekers trying to flee war-torn country; fate of Canadians remains unclear

Michelle Shephard, staff reporterA humanitarian crisis is looming in Somalia as security fears overshadow the plight of refugees, and the fate of Islamist loyalists – Canadians among them – remains unclear. Ethiopian warplanes reportedly targeted fleeing members of Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) yesterday and the heightened security measures along Somalia's border with Kenya have trapped hundreds of Somali civilians. The United Nations condemned Kenya yesterday for sealing its border and sending as many as 400 Somali refugees back into the war-torn country as they tried to seek help. "It's a sad day for us," said Nemia Temporal, head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees camp in Dadaab, Kenya, during a phone interview with the Toronto Star. "We can't believe this is happening after all the years that the Kenyan government has been very generous in providing international protection to asylum seekers." Toronto Star (Canada) (1/4)

End fighting, UN tells Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan jets bombed Tamil Tiger rebel positions yesterday, the military said, one day after a raid in the northwest of the island which the United Nations and rebels said killed 14 civilians. The military said the latest strikes were aimed at heavy weapons of the Tigers in the eastern Batticalao district, the scene of intense fighting for the past few weeks. It did not give any details and there was no immediate comment from the rebels. The bombing came as the UN urged the two sides to stop fighting and protect civilians after air strikes the previous day killed 14 people, including six children, the UN and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam said. The military has denied hitting civilian settlements in the air raid on Tuesday in Mannar district which has become the latest flashpoint in the fighting between the military and the LTTE, despite a 2002 ceasefire. "Sri Lankans continue to suffer deeply due to this conflict, and today’s loss of life is a source of deepest concern," said Margareta Wahlstrom, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs in a statement in New York on Tuesday. Gulf News (Qatar) (1/4)

Handover of power in Fiji just a facade, says Winston Peters

By Angela Gregory

The military ruler of Fiji, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, handed executive authority to the country's President yesterday, a move dismissed as a "facade and mirage" by New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Winston Peters. Commodore Bainimarama told the nation from the Queen Elizabeth Barracks that Ratu Iloilo, the President before last month's coup, had been restored to power."I now hand over executive authority to the President. God Bless Fiji," Commodore Bainimarama said. The military leader had appointed himself acting President on December 5 after removing Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's democratically elected Government in the nation's fourth coup in two decades. The military-appointed caretaker Prime Minister, Dr Jona Senilagakali, handed in his resignation yesterday. Ratu Iloilo said he thought the coup was legally valid and he would help get immunity for members of the armed forces. Ratu Iloilo planned, after consultation, to appoint an interim Government, possibly by the end of January, to steer Fiji to the next general election. New Zealand Herald (1/4)

Congressman to press for resolution to force Japan to acknowledge sex slave issue

WASHINGTON — A Californian congressman is planning to pass a resolution in the new Congress calling for Japan to formally acknowledge and accept responsibility for sexually enslaving women during World War II, the Hill newspaper reported Tuesday. Japanese-American Rep Mike Honda says he will be prompting intense lobbying activities from the Korean-American community, which last year rallied behind the resolution sponsored by Evans, and from the Japanese government, which opposed the legislation. The House International Relations Committee passed the controversial resolution last fall. Even though it did not have the force of law, it put the Japanese government on the defensive. Japan argues that it has already apologized and atoned for the treatment of what Tokyo calls "comfort women." During its occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s through the duration of WWII, Japan used as many as 200,000 young women from Korea, China, the Philippines and in some cases Western Europe for sexual servitude, a program designed to increase the efficiency and morale of the Japanese soldiers. Honda's office is determined to reintroduce the resolution as soon as possible in the new Congress. "I look forward to seeking the justice the comfort women deserve," Honda, chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said. Rep Tom Lantos (D-Calif), incoming chairman of the panel, supported the resolution last year and is expected to do so again. Japan Today (1/4)

Chávez Plans One Big Venezuela Leftist Party, Led by Him

By SIMON ROMERO

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan. 3 — President Hugo Chávez has begun forging a single Socialist party among his varied supporters, one of his recent efforts to create momentum for far-reaching changes to Venezuela’s political system that analysts say will effectively concentrate greater political power in his hands. Mr. Chávez formally announced the plan for the single party, called the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, in a speech last month to supporters here. He reminded them of his 23-percentage-point margin of victory when he was re-elected last month to a six-year term. “Those votes don’t belong to any party.” Mr. Chávez said. “They belong to Chávez and the people.” Since then the swiftness and boldness of Mr. Chávez’s attempt to create such a large party tied so closely to his personal leadership have created concern, even among sympathetic political analysts, that the step would effectively turn Venezuela into a one-party state. New York Times (1/4)

Pelosi Sworn in as First Woman Speaker of the House

New Congress Convenes With Democrats in Control

By William Branigin

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was sworn in today as the first woman speaker of the House in U.S. history, as Democrats formally took control of Congress for the first time in a dozen years and immediately set their sights on quick passage of ethics legislation. Pelosi, 66, took the oath of office at 2:30 p.m. EST after winning election as speaker in a straight party-line vote that reflected the Democrats' 233-202 House majority in the new 110th Congress. Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) became House minority leader. Before taking the oath from Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the longest-serving House member, Pelosi pledged in a speech to work in bipartisan fashion toward ending the war in Iraq, reining in deficit spending and raising ethical standards among lawmakers, among other goals. Hailing her election to the speakership as a "historic moment for the women of America," Pelosi declared, "For our daughters and granddaughters, today we have broken the marble ceiling. . . . Now the sky is the limit. Anything is possible." Washington Post (1/4)

posted by Dave Carroll @ 1/04/2007 04:04:00 PM