Pax Gaea Human Rights World Post

PAX GAEA WORLD POST HUMAN RIGHTS HEADLINES FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 2007

• Peacekeeping in the age of the "War on Terror" stretched to its limits
• Allegations of peacekeeper sex abuse in Darfur being investigated by Sudan
• World poverty can be addressed through tourism, UN report proposes
• As Arab world braces for post-oil, education must become focus now
• 200 million poor children could benefit greatly simply from play
• Interim Turkmen president wants to lift country out of isolation
• Peacekeepers urgently needed now in Somalia, diplomats urge
• Plan for Kosovo independence receiving final touches
• Net images of Saddam's execution prompts some children to hang themselves
• Talks with Egypt difficult as Israel continues attacks on West Bank

Call the blue helmets: Can the UN cope with increasing demands for its soldiers?

CALL it peacekeeping, peace-enforcement, stabilisation or anything else, but one thing is clear: the world's soldiers are busier than ever operating in the wide grey zone between war and peace. The United Nations has seen a sixfold increase since 1998 in the number of soldiers and military observers it deploys around the world. About 74,000 military personnel (nearly 100,000 people including police and civilians, and increasing fast) are currently involved in 18 different operations—more than any country apart from the United States. And it is not just the UN that is in high demand. NATO, the European Union and the African Union (AU), as well as other coalitions of the willing, have some 74,000 soldiers trying to restore peace and stability in troubled countries. Added to their number come the more than 160,000 American, British and other troops in Iraq. The “war on terror” is one cause of this military hyperactivity. But Jean-Marie Guéhenno, the UN's under-secretary for peacekeeping, also sees more hopeful reasons. The growing demand for blue helmets, he says, is a good sign that a number of conflicts are ending. The Economist (1/5)

Sudan to probe allegations of UN sex abuse

Khartoum, Sudan- Sudan on Thursday described the alleged sexual abuse of children by United Nations peacekeepers in south Sudan as "outrageous" and said it would launch its own investigation into the affair. The UN said on Wednesday it was investigating 13 cases of serious misconduct, including sexual abuse and exploitation in south Sudan. Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper said on Wednesday that UN peacekeepers and civilian staff were raping and abusing children as young as 12 in southern Sudan. The paper said it had interviewed 20 young victims in the south Sudan capital, Juba. "We are very concerned. It is outrageous," foreign ministry spokesperson Ali al-Sadig told Reuters. "If anyone has committed such crimes they should face the full weight of the law," he added. He said the Khartoum government would launch an investigation into the matter. Any UN personnel found guilty of such crimes would be dealt with by the UN and not under Sudanese law. More than 11 000 UN police and troops are in Sudan to monitor a north-south peace deal, which will mark its second anniversary next week. Mail & Guardian (South Africa) (1/5)

U.N.: Tourism could be anti-poverty key

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The United Nations says 2007 is critical for tourism to become a key in the fight against poverty and a primary tool for sustainable development. International tourism is projected to grow again by more than 4 percent this year, the U.N. World Tourism Organization said in a New Year's message. "Mainstreaming tourism in the international development agenda does not require such a great leap of faith," said UNWTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli. "The tourism sector is the largest common area of export income and foreign direct investment across the world's poorest countries," he said. "Tourism to these countries is growing at twice the rate of industrialized markets. No sector spreads wealth and jobs across poor economies in the same way as tourism." Major UNWTO initiatives this year include a world summit on "Tourism and Religion," hosted by Spain, to explore ways to strengthen the interrelationship between tourism and the world's great religions so as to further encourage peaceful development and intercultural dialogue. The agency also plans to intensify its "eTourism" initiatives together with Microsoft to introduce an Emergency Response System for disasters and enhance the Windows on Africa Portal to boost tourism there. United Press International (1/5)

Oil won't last; invest in Arab education

By Raja Kamal - CommentaryMany of the Arab nations have been blessed historically with oil and natural gas, which became the dominant engines of economic change in the last century. That is the good news. The bad news is that oil and natural gas are the sole economic foundations of the Arab world. What the Arab world has failed to achieve is economic diversity. If we are to exclude oil and natural gas from the various Arab economies of the 300 million inhabitants of the Arab world, the cumulative GDP would be less than that of Finland, a country with a population with just over 5 million. The Arab world, with a few exceptions, has failed miserably at catching up with the economic renaissance of most other corners of the world. It is now struggling to catch up and reforming the educational system should be the starting point. Higher education in the Arab world has performed inadequately and produced graduates who are having a difficult time integrating and assimilating into the global economy. A recent study compiled by the International Ranking Experts Group and the Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington found only one Arab university at the bottom of a list of 3,000 world universities. In contrast, some Israeli universities are among the top 200 on the list. The DNA of the Arab universities seems to be poorly constructed. There seems to be a virtual wall between the universities and the real world. College culture does not encourage individuality and fresh ideas. The curriculum structure in universities is often rigid and sheltered. There is an urgent need to overhaul the system. Daily Star (Lebanon) (1/5)

Toys 'could help 200m children'

Programmes using basic toys could boost educational achievement of 200 million developing world children not reaching their potential, a report says. Poverty, a lack of stimulation and malnourishment leaves millions unable to benefit from schooling even if it is available, the Lancet study says. The kind of early play taken for granted in the West can boost development, the UK-led team says. It wants governments, international agencies and charities to act urgently. The research has been carried out by an international team of experts led by Professor Sally McGregor of University College London's Institute of Child Health. It seeks to fathom the scale of educational underachievement in the developing world. Using World Health Organisation data on stunted growth and information on severe poverty, from a series of long-term studies in seven developing countries, her team calculated that some 200 million children were held back intellectually. There was already convincing evidence that extreme poverty and stunted growth led to backward educational achievement, she said. BBC (1/5)

Turkmen leader proposes vast change to lift isolation

By Ilan GreenbergALMATY, Kazakhstan: Turkmenistan's acting president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, who had promised only continuity with the severely authoritarian policies of his predecessor, on Thursday proposed measures that would help lift the nation from its fortresslike isolation. Berdymukhammedov promised a laundry list of changes affecting agriculture, social assistance programs, education and the economy. The proposals, outlined in a speech in Ashgabat, the capital, included giving students access to foreign universities — including those in the United States — sending doctors to Western hospitals to acquire modern skills and extending primary schooling to 10 years. Berdymukhammedov also vowed to create a culture of entrepreneurship, suggesting that he would encourage private ownership of some residences and businesses. Almost all economic activity in Turkmenistan is tied to the government. He also promised to allow universal access to the Internet. Turkmens are allowed almost no contact with the outside world. In recent years, even foreign newspapers and cable television from Russia were prohibited under the mercurial rule of Saparmurat Niyazov, the "president for life," who died on Dec. 21. Simply receiving a telephone call originating in a foreign country can arouse the interest of Turkmenistan's feared security apparatus, said Turkmen who had spoken to journalists. International Herald Tribune (1/5)

Diplomats back urgent Somalia peacekeeping mission

By Daniel Wallis and Wangui Kanina

NAIROBI, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Western and African diplomats called on Friday for the urgent dispatch of peacekeepers to Somalia to stabilise the country after a two-week war in which Ethiopian-backed government forces routed Islamist fighters. The International Contact Group on Somalia, which includes the United States, European and African nations, held closed-door talks in Nairobi with Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf amid fresh concerns over Islamist threats to carry on fighting and the return of warlord militias to Mogadishu. "The Group felt clearly it was important there not be a security vacuum," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer told reporters after the meeting, which she chaired. "We felt therefore that it was urgent to get a stabilisation force into Somalia." Frazer said Washington was donating $40 million, $16 million of which would help fund the proposed African peacekeeping force. It is a major reversal for the United States, which in 2005 threatened to veto any foreign peacekeeping deployment proposed to the U.N. Security Council.In a communique the Group welcomed an offer of forces from Uganda, which has said it could send a battalion if the move is approved by its parliament. Reuters AlertNet (1/5)

UN's Kosovo blueprint in 'final stages'

By Matt Robinson

Belgrade - A United Nations blueprint on the final status of Serbia's UN-run province of Kosovo, which diplomats say will open the door to independence, will be ready on January 21, a United Nations spokesperson said on Thursday. "It's in the final stages," said Remi Dourlot, spokesman for UN Kosovo envoy Martti Ahtisaari. "It has still to be finalised but it will be ready for the 21st and to be presented any time after then." Serbia holds a general election on January 21, a snap vote that forced Ahtisaari to postpone an original deadline of end-2006 for his proposal on the fate of the majority ethnic Albanian province. A Western diplomat told the Austrian daily Die Presse on Thursday that it was increasingly likely Ahtisaari's blueprint would recommend "supervised independence". Diplomats have said for months that the United States and its major European allies favour independence, supervised by the European Union and a Nato force of currently 17 000 soldiers. But Russian backing for Serbia, which says autonomy is the most it can offer a region which was once the heart of the medieval Serb kingdom, is complicating efforts to decide the issue at the UN Security Council, where Moscow holds a veto. Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority has ruled out a return to Serb rule. Ten thousand died and almost a million were temporarily expelled in a 1998-99 conflict in which Nato bombed Serbia and occupied the province. Kosovo has been a ward of the United Nations since. IOL/Reuters (South Africa) (1/5)

Execution prompts children's hangings

HOUSTON: Graphic images of Saddam Hussein's execution this week have had tragic repercussions for the families of three children who hanged themselves after watching the footage.In Webster, a suburb of Houston, Texas, Sergio Pelico, 10, accidentally hanged himself on New Year's Eve after watching television reports of Saddam's execution, police said. In western Pakistan, a nine-year-old boy near the town of Multan died trying to copy scenes from the execution. Mubashar Ali, helped by his 10-year-old sister, tied a rope to a ceiling fan and his neck. Their father said the children had been watching the Saddam footage on television. A 15-year-old Indian girl from Kharda, in West Bengal, hanged herself in response to the Saddam execution, saying she wanted to feel his pain. The body of the US boy was found hanging from his bunk bed. He had asked about the execution, an uncle said. "He asked, 'Is this how they killed people?"' Adolfo Chavez said. "We said, 'No, but they did it to this man because he's bad."' Sydney Morning Herald (1/5)

Israeli Raid Overshadows Olmert’s Talks With Mubarak

By STEVEN ERLANGER

JERUSALEM, Jan. 4 — Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt on Thursday evening in an effort to give momentum to the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. But the meeting was overshadowed by an Israeli raid in the West Bank in which four Palestinians were killed and 20 wounded. Mr. Mubarak was clearly embarrassed by the timing of the raid, hours before the meeting of the two leaders in an Egyptian Red Sea resort town, Sharm el Sheik. He called it a hindrance to peace efforts and told Mr. Olmert that Egypt “rejects and is indignant at the military operation.” “Israel’s security cannot be achieved through military force but by serious endeavors toward peace,” Mr. Mubarak added at his news conference with Mr. Olmert. Mr. Olmert said that he was sorry that innocent Palestinians were hurt, but that Israel would defend itself and was acting to arrest “terrorists who had killed Israelis.” New York Times (1/5)

posted by Dave Carroll @ 1/05/2007 03:55:00 PM