Tuesday, January 09, 2007

PAX GAEA WORLD POST HUMAN RIGHTS HEADLINES TUESDAY,JANUARY 9, 2007


TOPICS
  • International Criminal Court's trying of war crimes put Uganda's fragile peace at risk
  • Italy seeks help of Europe to push moratorium on death penalty
  • Human Rights Watch calls for halt to Iraq executions as cruel and inhumane
  • Conservative think tank recommends U.S. cut off aid to Pakistan, repressive regimes
  • American warplanes attack Somali Islamist refuge, suspects of embassy bombings
  • Bolivia president criticised for strengthening military ties with Venezuela
  • Ganges too filthy for pilgrim sin baths, needs clean up, urges Hindu clerics
  • Taiwan accuses China of buying off African countries for lucrative trade deals
  • Israel frees right wing extremist settler with promise not to attack West Bank Palestinians
  • Mississippi needs comprehensive plan to rebuild post Katrina coast faster

African search for peace throws court into crisis

Uganda fears first crucial test for tribunal could prolong brutal 20-year civil war

Chris McGreal, Africa correspondent

The newly established international criminal court risks being "fatally damaged" by demands that it cancel its first ever war crimes indictment because it is an obstacle to ending Uganda's 20-year civil war. The dispute over a slew of charges against the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony, who is accused of mass murder, rape, mutilations and abducting children to become soldiers, has opened a rift between African governments, which believe trials should be subordinated to local peace deals and reconciliation, and countries such as Britain which strongly back the ICC as establishing international justice. The row also reflects differences seen at tribunals for Rwanda and Sierra Leone over whether international trials should take precedence. The ICC launched its investigation into the LRA's crimes at the urging of the Ugandan government and issued indictments against Mr Kony and four of his commanders in 2005. Mr Kony has demanded that the charges be dropped as a condition for a peace deal and Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, wants the ICC to agree. Mr Museveni has also promised the LRA leader immunity from arrest in Uganda. The Guardian (United Kingdom) (1/9)

Rome Push for Ban Gains Steam

Italy is finding more and more support in its bid for an international moratorium on the death penalty. Rome hopes to get the explicit support of all 27 European Union members at a meeting later this week in Dresden. Even if the effort seems unlikely to succeed, Italy over the weekend continued its push to get the United Nations to impose a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty. On Saturday evening, the Colosseum in Rome was lit up to highlight the effort and the Italians hope to get the backing of the European Union for a UN General Assembly vote on the issue during a meeting of foreign ministry officials on Jan. 11-12 in Dresden. And it is beginning to look like they may have widespread support. The Italian push began on Jan. 2, just a few days after the execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. The hanging, images of which were immediately made available across the world, was criticized by a wide variety of countries and non-governmental organizations. Condemnation only increased when a mobile phone video of the hanging made by one of the guards surfaced showing that Saddam was insulted as he stood on the gallows awaiting his death. "I believe (abolishing the death penalty) must constitute one of the top commitments of our international efforts because it is urgent to have an initiative to put an end to the barbarianism of the death penalty," Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema told the Italian news agency ANSA last week. Der Spiegel (Germany) (1/9)

Rights group insists Iraq halt executions

Punishment planned for aides to Hussein called 'cruel, inhuman'

By Louise Roug

BAGHDAD, Iraq // A top international human rights group yesterday called on the Iraqi government to halt the execution of two aides to Saddam Hussein as a trial against the dead dictator and his deputies resumed in Baghdad. The planned executions "highlight the Iraqi government's disturbing disregard for human rights and the rule of law," said the strongly worded statement from the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, adding to an increasingly heated debate over the killing of Hussein's and his cohorts. "The haste and vengeance infusing Saddam Hussein's hanging should prompt the Iraqi government to halt these executions," said Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program, in the statement, describing the aides' executions as "cruel and inhuman punishment that will only drag a deeply flawed process into even greater disrepute." The deposed dictator was hanged in Baghdad on Dec. 30. However, the executions of his half-brother and former intelligence chief, Barzan Ibrahim Hasan, and former Revolutionary Court Judge Awad Hamed Bandar, have been postponed several times under pressure from leaders worldwide. Baltimore Sun (1/9)

Pakistan police tactics spark ire

A RAND report released last week accuses them of human rights abuses and suggests that the US suspend aid.

By David Montero Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – Amina Masood Janjua recalls the date as if it were her own name: July 30, 2005 - the day intelligence agents took her husband from a Rawalpindi street. She hasn't heard from him since. Like hundreds of others, Ms. Janjua has taken to protesting on the streets, bringing international attention to what some say is the dark side of Pakistan's lauded counterterrorism efforts: the arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance of hundreds, if not thousands, of suspects. "There's no option for me but to protest on the roads. I think in terms of seconds - how long will I be kept from my husband," Janjua says. As these families wring their hands, developments in Pakistan's court system highlight a different but equally troubling trend. Alleged militants, many considered top Al Qaeda recruits, are being released from jail, their sentences having been overruled - a result, apparently, of Pakistani police resorting to methods of incrimination that don't stand in court. The two trends show how, a world away from the restive tribal zones where the Taliban hold sway, the war against terrorism may be faltering on another key battleground: within the ranks of the Pakistani police."The United States should significantly restructure or even withdraw its assistance to repressive regimes if their internal security agencies fail to improve transparency, human rights practices, and overall effectiveness," reads a RAND Corp. assessment of Pakistani police published last week. Christian Science Monitor (1/9)

Officials: U.S. airstrikes target suspected embassy bombers in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A U.S. airstrike hit targets in southern Somalia where Islamic militants were believed to be sheltering suspects in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies, Somali officials and witnesses said Tuesday. Many people were reported killed. Monday's attack was the first overt military action by the U.S. in Somalia since it led a U.N. force in the 1990s that intervened in Somalia in an effort to fight famine. The mission led to clashes between U.N. forces and Somali warlords, including the "Black Hawk Down" battle that left 18 U.S. servicemen dead.Helicopter gunships launched new attacks Tuesday near the scene of a U.S. airstrike in the village of Hayi, although it was not clear if they were American or Ethiopian aircraft, and it was not known if there were any casualties. Two helicopters "fired several rockets toward the road that leads to the Kenyan border," said Ali Seed Yusuf, a resident of the town of Afmadow in southern Somalia. USA Today/Associated Press (1/9)

Bolivia Leader Lets Venezuela Send Soldiers, Angering Foes

By SIMON ROMERO

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan. 8 — Political opponents of President Evo Morales of Bolivia have in recent days stepped up criticism of the country’s strengthening military relationship with Venezuela after Bolivian officials acknowledged that more than two dozen uniformed members of the Venezuelan military had recently entered the country without congressional approval. Jorge Quiroga, a former president of Bolivia and a prominent critic of Mr. Morales’s alliance with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, accused Mr. Morales in a statement on Saturday of “trampling national sovereignty.” Legislators from Santa Cruz, a redoubt of anti-Morales sentiment in eastern Bolivia, previously criticized the unannounced arrival of about 30 Venezuelan military officials at Trompillo Airport there on Dec. 28. President Morales has been facing increasing tension in eastern provinces seeking greater political autonomy from his administration. Part of the dispute stems from the Bolivian Congress’s approval of a wide-reaching military cooperation pact with Venezuela, in a legislative session in November that opponents say was marred by irregularities. Mr. Morales has also begun an ambitious land reform program that could encourage tens of thousands of highland peasants to move to the east, unsettling regional leaders there who view the project as a threat to their interests. New York Times (1/9)

Hindu holy men: Clean up Ganges

The river is too polluted for pilgrims to wash away their sins, the sadhus say. Officials say tons of waste is removed daily.

By Biswajeet Banerjee , The Associated Press

Lucknow, India - Thousands of Hindu holy men threatened Monday to boycott ceremonies at a weeks-long pilgrimage to wash away their sins in the Ganges, saying the divine river was too polluted. The saffron-clad, ash-smear ed holy men, or sadhus, gathered at the fairgrounds in Allahabad to demand the waters be improved by Friday, the day of the next great immersion. Allahabad, the venue of the Ardh Kumbh Mela, or Half Grand Pitcher festival, is nearly 120 miles southeast of Luck now, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state. "Millions of people are taking baths in this river because Hindus consider the Ganges a pious river," said Hari Chaitanaya Brahmachari, a leading Hindu holy man. "But the fact is they are taking a dip not in river water but in effluents discharged from factories." Nearly 70 million Hindus are expected to participate in the 45-day festival, one of the largest regular gatherings in the world. They bathe in the waters of the Ganges in the belief that it washes away their sins and ends the process of reincarnation. Denver Post (1/9)

China denies checkbook diplomacy in Africa

BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) - China dismissed a Taiwan accusation of buying diplomatic recognition in Africa with $250 million in aid and loans on Tuesday, saying it was like a burglar shouting 'stop thief!' Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province, said Beijing had offered five African nations aid, loans and debt write-offs during recent state visits, highlighting tit-for-tat accusations of checkbook diplomacy between the political rivals. "Our relations with African countries are based on equality, mutual benefit and respect," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference. "Those kinds of accusations are groundless." Taiwan and China say publicly they do not use economic means to win political allies. China considers self-ruled Taiwan a part of Chinese territory rather than as a country and forbids Chinese diplomatic partners from any official dealings with the island. China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Beijing has vowed to bring the self-governed democracy of 23 million people back under mainland rule, by force if necessary. ABS-CBN (Philippines) (1/9)

Rightist freed from jail after vowing not to attack Palestinians

By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent

A right-wing extremist was released from prison on Tuesday after promising to refrain from using violence against security forces and Palestinians. Albert, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, had been under arrest for two months for violating the conditions of a restraining order prohibiting him from entering the West Bank, with the exception of Ma'aleh Adumim. According to Albert, he violated the conditions by returning to his home in Yitzhar a number of times. GOC Central Command, Major General Yair Naveh, issued the order against Albert in June, as part of the preparations for the evacuation of West Bank outposts. Naveh signed the warrant following a recommendation by the State Prosecutor's Office and Shin Bet Security Service intelligence that linked Albert to violent clashes with police and Palestinians. Albert voiced his opposition to the restraining order, and was arrested in November after he repeatedly violated its conditions. The Shin Bet Security Service and State Prosecutor's Office reached an agreement with Albert over the last few days. In exchange for his release and the annulment of the restraining order against him, Albert said he was opposed to physical and verbal attacks against security forces. He also said that he "disagreed" with harming Palestinians and their property. Ha'aretz (Israel) (1/9)

461 DAYS AFTER THE STORM ... Where does Biloxi go from here?

By Ricky Mathews

On an economic level, Biloxi is starting to thrive, but if you are a resident who wants to rebuild in a low-lying area and you need guidance from the city about the future, you probably are not in a good place. There is too much confusion. And that shouldn't be the case 15 months after Hurricane Katrina. The mayor and City Council need to take decisive action to implement the compelling vision that their own constituents have created for Biloxi. Nothing less will let them get the tough decisions behind them and enable the rebuilding process to move forward more quickly. Biloxi is on the cusp of an amazing recovery. Will Biloxi's leaders make the tough decisions and create an exciting future? This can't be done one step at a time... one project at a time. There has to be a compelling master plan crafted with all of the new tools we have learned about since the storm. If you care deeply about Biloxi or any of the other cities in South Mississippi trying to work through this unprecedented rebuilding effort, read on. And hang on to this page for future reference. In so many ways, as Biloxi's recovery and rebuilding goes, so goes the Mississippi Coast's recovery - at least in the short term. That's because reporters, national business leaders and other visitors hit Biloxi first most of the time. And what they sense about Biloxi's vision - and its progress toward realizing it - shapes their impressions of the Coast's post-Katrina prospects. All South Mississippians have a stake in Biloxi's success. Sun Herald (Gulfport-Biloxi, MS) (1/9)

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