palashcbiswas,
gostokanan, sodepur, kolkata-700110 phone:033-25659551
From: "PWAP@yahoogroups.com" <PWAP@yahoogroups.com>
To: PWAP@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, 20 May, 2009 4:54:25
Subject: PEOPLE'S WATCH ANDHRA PRADESH Digest Number 679[2 Attachments]
Messages In This Digest (24 Messages)
- 1.
- Lalu in Cabinet â€" TOI, Merger of Regional Parties Desired From: Ravinder Singh
- 2.
- Kerala Police fires at fishing community, four dead From: n chro
- 3a.
- the only nation to have defeated Terrorism From: Kith de Silva
- 4a.
- A friend has shared their Allvoices news report From: allvoices
- 5.
- Requesting applications for Change Looms Program 2009 From: Change Looms
- 6.
- NATO should help Pakistan? From: S Turkman
- 7.
- Fwd: An undercurrent of evil in government- Kishali Pinto Jayawarden From: Tapan Kumar Bose
- 8.
- Kerala has a bad history... From: Yamini Kumar
- 9.
- Hard Facts â€" Banias Are India’s Worst Enemies From: Ravinder Singh
- 10.
- Mideast: Obama's peace plan 'misleading', says Hamas spokesman From: marco.pertoni@libero.it
- 11.
- Mideast: EU presidency 'not happy' with Israeli policies From: marco.pertoni@libero.it
- 12.
- Mideast: Italian financial aid for Gazan families blocked by Israel From: marco.pertoni@libero.it
- 13.
- UN expert on trafficking in persons to visit Belarus and Poland From: MS Giri
- 14.
- UN focus on plight of civilians in post-conflict Sri Lanka From: HREA noreply@hrea.org
- 15.
- UAE: Exploited workers building 'Island of Happiness' From: HREA noreply@hrea.org
- 16.
- New Lok Sabha: Women Members Cross 10% Mark For First Time In India' From: ICYOIndia icyoindia@gmail.com
- 17.
- Concluding Observations: Committee Against Torture, 42nd session From: Tbru OHCHR tbru@ohchr.org
- 18.
- Supreme Court ask husbands to do whatever wifes says..... From: forum_humanrights
- 19.
- 69% women face harassment at work: Study From: ICYOIndia icyoindia@gmail.com
- 20.
- [women-rights] Nicaragua: Call for review on complete ban on abortio From: HREA noreply@hrea.org
- 21.
- [child-rights] South Africa: Child Justice Bill signed into law From: HREA noreply@hrea.org
- 22.
- Fw: Can Times of India justify that Indian Balck Money deposited in From: Milap Choraria
- 23.
- Iraq: Detained Al-Qaeda leader 'funded by Arab states' From: marco.pertoni@libero.it
- 24.
- CHINA Migrant worker blows himself up because he was not paid From: marco.pertoni@libero.it
Messages
- 1.
-
Lalu in Cabinet â€" TOI, Merger of Regional Parties Desired
Posted by: "Ravinder Singh" progressindia008@yahoo.com progressindia008
Tue May 19, 2009 10:36 am (PDT)
Lalu in Cabinet â€" TOI, Merger of Regional Parties Desired
Â
INC has taken first right step in Retaining Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister. Rewarding Lalu Yadav is second most important decision. Without RJD following equation would lead to certain loss for INC in Bihar Assembly Elections also. With merger of INC and TMC would ensure certain win in WB assembly elections.
Â
JDU + BJP vs INC â€" RJD
Â
Lalu Yadav is not just a top performing Railway Minister in the world but also prominent leader of 100 million state of Bihar.Â
Â
There is no one in the INC leadership who could take on Advani and other 150 loud mouths in Parliament effortlessly.
Â
I have observed most ministers are spineless roll back decisions and are incompetent.
Â
For smooth functioning of Government, UPA need 350 seats for stability and take vital decisions.
Â
Merger > Alliance
Â
Merger of regional parties with INC is far better option than short term agreement on cabinet berth sharing.
Â
Next year INC is to face elections in Bihar and WB.
Â
INC should consider merger of regional parties.
Â
Ravinder Singh
May19, 2009
- 2.
-
Kerala Police fires at fishing community, four dead
Posted by: "n chro" nchromail@gmail.com
Tue May 19, 2009 10:39 am (PDT)
Kerala Police fires at fishing community, four
dead<http://nchro. org/index. php?option= com_content& view=article& id=6847:kerala- police-fires- at-fishing- community- four-dead& catid=12: stateviolations& Itemid=7>
<http://nchro. org/index. php?view= article&catid= 12:stateviolatio ns&id=6847: kerala-police- fires-at- fishing-communit y-four-dead& format=pdf& option=com_ content&Itemid= 7>
<http://nchro. org/index. php?view= article&catid= 12:stateviolatio ns&id=6847: kerala-police- fires-at- fishing-communit y-four-dead& tmpl=component& print=1&layout= default&page= &option=com_ content&Itemid= 7>
<http://nchro. org/index. php?option= com_mailto& tmpl=component& link=aHR0cDovL25 jaHJvLm9yZy9pbmR leC5waHA/ b3B0aW9uPWNvbV9j b250ZW50JnZpZXc9 YXJ0aWNsZSZpZD02 ODQ3OmtlcmFsYS1w b2xpY2UtZmlyZXMt YXQtZmlzaGluZy1j b21tdW5pdHktZm91 ci1kZWFkJmNhdGlk PTEyOnN0YXRldmlv bGF0aW9ucyZJdGVt aWQ9Nw==>
StateViolations
<http://nchro. org/index. php?option= com_content& view=category& id=12:stateviola tions&layout= blog&Itemid= 7>
Four persons from the Muslim fishing community were killed when the
Kerala police opened fire to end a clash between two groups in the
Cheriyathura- Beemapally coastal area on the outskirts of the
Thiruvananthapuram city on Sunday evening ( May 17, 2009). The dead as
identified as Ahammed Saleem (50), Badusha (35), Syed Alavi (24), Abdul
Hakkeem (27). 37 persons injured during police fire. Among three of them,
Shafeeq (21), Sajeer (22), Ali (34) are having serious head injury.
The clashes erupted after a local mafia boss called Shibu tried to extort
money from a small restaurant belongs to Muslim fisherman community in the
area on Saturday. The extortionists were manhandled by the locals as a
protest against mafia rule in the impoverished suburban area. The criminal
gang returned to the area with more people and started pelting stones at
shops and nearby houses. They also torched boats and fishing nets and
damaged shops in the area. Scores were injured as the attacks continued on
Sunday. The police force failed to arrest the mafia leader, Mr. Shibu, a
notorious criminal and drug dealer, which resulted in mass resistance of
fishing community.
The irate crowd pelted stones at police demanding the arrest of mafia
leader. Soon, the police, under Commissioner A P George, opened fire to
disperse a violent mob assembled at the beach. But locals alleged that
police fired at the crowd without warning. Police should have been able to
use tear gas or rubber bullet to disperse the crowd. But the police fired at
throat and chest of the dead and even by chasing the crowd from behind.
While two bodies were removed to the medical college hospital, two others
were kept in a house as community leaders were not handing them over to the
police, demanding a judicial probe. Police even denied access to medical
facilities to the injured. Victims says that police was unnecessarily trying
to make the clashes as communal, while they were responding against mafia
- police nexus.
Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, who was in New Delhi, appealed to the
people to remain calm. "Adequate compensation would be given to those who
have suffered damages and (the goevrnment) will do the needful for those who
lost their lives," Achuthanandan said. N. Ramachandran Nair, the senior
leader of Communist Party of India demanded strict action against police.
Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who is also in New Delhi, said
the violence had nothing to do with the Lok Sabha election results announced
Saturday, adding he would return here at the earliest.
Leader of Opposition Oommen Chandy of the Congress Sunday night told
reporters here that there was a lapse on the part of the police and a small
clash had flared up into a tragedy.
"A judicial inquiry has to be announced into the incident," said Chandy. A
company of the Central Reserve Police Force has has been deployed in the
area and a group of the Rapid Action Force was on its way to the place,
officials said. Muslim organizations demanded massive shut down of
Thiruvananthapuram city to protest against irresponsible police firing.
- 3a.
-
the only nation to have defeated Terrorism
Posted by: "Kith de Silva" kith.desilva@wesbeam.com
Tue May 19, 2009 10:40 am (PDT)
Sri Lanka - the only nation to have defeated the LTTE & ended Terrorism
No congratulatory messages from world leaders - No applause for Sri Lanka's military - No mention for the world's biggest humanitarian rescue operation by the armed forces that rescued almost 250,000 Tamil civilians from LTTE clutches - No plaudits for the ONLY NATION to have crushed the world's worse Terrorist movement.... Did we not say that barring a few friendly nations, world leaders remained hostile towards Sri Lanka preferring instead to play fiddle to the LTTE's "liberation" "discrimination" "genocide" tune. Sri Lanka has proved the world & these world leaders wrong & as the nation continues to celebrate & rightly so there are a few key messages that need to be highlighted.
What is left for a country to do when its State land is illegally held by an armed group - which imposes taxes upon the people who live in the area, which doesn't think twice about killing those who speak or act against them (their own people), which having no volunteers ends up conscripting by force & even creating a separate wing for child soldiers, which makes millions of dollars through illegal & illicit dealings internationally but doesn't use a penny for the welfare of the people who they had to eventually use as human shields? A nation cannot have two Governments. A nation cannot have two armies & a nation cannot have two national flags. Will talks & negotiations ever concede the territory illegally held by the LTTE back to the State? Talks, negotiations & ceasefires are meant for compromise & absolutely nothing has resulted from any of these discussions held in Sri Lanka or overseas even with the biased participation of moderators & peace facilitators like Norway! The refusal for compromise only deduces that the LTTE was never interested in a political compromise but interested in nothing but a separate state which in its lengthened & delayed forms provides the perfect means to run a terrorist-cum money spinning enterprise the perfect ploy for the continuity of the movement & the assurance of VIP status & recognition & the means to hold not only a country to ransom but even thousands of people. This is the reality that lies behind a movement that has prevailed in Sri Lanka for almost 3 decades.
The confusion that has arisen from this debacle is the unfortunate decision by Tamil political parties who have chosen to hide under the skirt of the LTTE making the international community & the world in general to think that the separatist movement & the political grievances are one & the same. The fault also lies with the general Tamil public (not the destitute Tamils who have been hellholed by the LTTE) but the others who lead comfortable lives very much amongst the Sinhalese & who silently watch the lies by LTTE preferring not to speak the truth for the presence of an "ethnic" situation provides them means to apply to leave Sri Lanka & eventually obtain permanent residency in those western countries & bring the rest of their families as well. How else would 800,000 Tamils be living in the West & why are some now feverishly worried that their foreign terror campaign may be over - thus the attacks on Sri Lankan High Commissions & temples abroad - they realize their days of terrorizing non-LTTE Tamils is soon to be over & the nations that silently watched LTTE crimes take place because their Governments had indirect gains will now come down heavy upon them & many soon are likely to end up in foreign jails for these countries will have no reason to curry flavor with the LTTE propagandists since now they have no clout whatsoever in Sri Lanka.
The LTTE allowed this confusion to prevail as it suited its existence & the ethnic-based Tamil political parties tagged alongside the LTTE's lines of thought for it would ensure their lives were saved. Neither the LTTE nor these Tamil political parties would ever say what these grievances are! It is pointless speaking of or referring to things that took place decades ago - for bridges to heal things that are irrelevant need no repeated reference. Its relevance becomes a necessity if it is repeated - there is no Sinhala Only Policy taking place in the present, there is no legal or constitutional provisions that pinpoints to Tamils specifically & deny any rights to them....the question that need to be straightforwardly asked of these Tamil political parties as well as the general Tamil public is where are the exclusive denials to Tamils (in the present) when Tamils can live anywhere they like, when Tamils can own property anywhere they like, when Tamils can go to public schools, private schools, international schools are Tamils denied education, when Tamils can enter medical colleges & even top the marks list where has been the discrimination? When Tamils can join the public service & private sector climb the corporate ladder, hold professional memberships & portfolios & even join any of the political parties that are not ethnic-based & secure even cabinet portfolios where is the discrimination or denial to Tamils.....Has Sri Lanka not had Central Bank Governors who were Tamil?, Inspector General of Police who was Tamil, Chief Justice who were Tamil, a Foreign Minister who was Tamil?.... moreover merit should take precedence over ethnic-based allocations. Have the 250,000 Tamils not suffered enormously even living in a defacto Tamil Eelaam....look at these people who have been saved...they are in appalling conditions & the LTTE, the pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora are totally responsible for their plight.
In the milieu of this unhealthy-marriage of sorts with Tamil political parties & Tamil people in general choosing to remain mum over LTTE atrocities a considerable number of Tamils ended up having to suffer under duress. These are the 250,000 Tamils that the Sri Lankan army has rescued - when the world says these people are malnutritioned - they are so not because the Government has denied them food, but they are fleshless & bones because the LTTE has stolen the food for their own consumption. Many of us has noticed the high numbers of pregnant women & little children & it only suffices to assume that the LTTE were ensuring they had enough stocks of child soldiers for their gullible terror movement & provides a baseless conclusion to the ceasefire agreement entered upon in 2002 - what a farce of an agreement that only left a nation having to be humiliated by a piece of document that provided the means to bring in shipments of arms & weaponry as Sri Lankan officials were left only to silently watch with orders coming from the top with instructions to allow these shipments to go untouched to LTTE territory. Our army has a task to unearth thousands more of these weapons & arms brought during the ceasefire agreement & all those party to that treachery that took place should have sleepless nights for their role in the deaths of the innocent lives that were lost because of their silence.
What needs to be continuously reiterated is that within this hyped up grievance scenario targeted against the Sinhalese it was a pathetic reality that Tamils outside the war zones & Tamil political parties chose to side with the LTTE while the 250,000 or more Tamils ended up bait for the 3 decade long existence of the LTTE, the existence of Tamil leaderships & for other Tamils to go abroad....the Tamil Diaspora stands guilty of not sending a penny for the IDPs while they descended in large numbers on the guise of giving tsunami aid to bring replenishments for the LTTE - some of these LTTE front organizations that disguised themselves as Charitable Organizations are banned - Tamil Rehabilitation Organization , World Tamil Movement. the unhealthy tie ups to foreign MPs is enlightened through their association with these "charity" organizations & the puzzling question of why these MPs would speak for a terrorist movement banned in their own countries shows how these very MPs have misused public expenses...should we be surprised at their association with the LTTE....these MPs who have no ethics & are no better than the LTTE....we all know how to judge people like Mrs. Clinton, Miliband, the French foreign Minister, the foreign lawyers who were paid handsomely by these terrorists.. .......& politicians who could easily be bought over for money & all these people & their nations have the audacity to tell Sri Lanka what to do....can the US accept their role for killing almost a million Iraqi people through their occupation without UN mandate? Is that no different to the damage the US is doing in Afghanistan & now even in Pakistan where a democratic Government prevails but has to silently watch as the US carries aerial attacks on supposed Al Qaeda or Taliban? Can any foreign military boast that it has completed a military operation as well as saved thousands of innocent lives....in an operation where we are dealing with the worlds most terror outfit there are bound to be deaths...no military operation can take place without deaths but without appreciating that the military has saved almost 250,000 people countries & media channels enjoy promoting small numbers of death & picturing a human catastrophe situation. Are these people who have been saved not been looked after & fed daily....think of the logistics that goes towards feeding people three meals....looking after the children...keeping them occupied through the day is no easy endeavor & it is the army who first took up the task of cooking the food & feeding the people - not many even praised the army for their caring.
In the renewed calls for "post-war peace" - national reconciliation the world must now open their eyes wide & clear & the pretence must stop. The Government to its credit did right to ignore the false & fabricated moves by US, UK, EU, Norway to provide oxygen for a movement that provided side benefits to those Governments. Calling a spade a spade ensured that a 3 decade conflict unnecessarily dragged on ended in 3 years - the responsibility for the 3 decade situation falls upon many & even some of Sri Lanka's leaders in the Opposition are accountable for many preferred to use the conflict for their gain - political & monetary. In this scenario that the present Government chose instead to go against the practices of former leaderships & openly declare it will militarily defeat the LTTE is commendable for we have reaped the results in just 3 years - the megalomaniac is dead having become an instrument of his own movement for he eventually ended up just a guineapig of those providing the funds & those providing the armory - without this he was no better than a jungle thug. In actuality he was just taken for a ride by the Tamil Diaspora the LTTE lobbysists who live luxurious lives using a pretentious "ethnic conflict" scenario & who have no requirement for even a separate state as they are unlikely to ever make a home in Sri Lanka even if it were separated.
Amidst this there are some others however who become tagged to the LTTE movement who actually believe in a separate state for Tamils - this group of thinkers are those who picture a larger Eelaam with even Tamil Nadu included - a final homeland for the 80million Tamils of the world. Yet, this is a scenario that India will never allow therefore when even Tamil Nadu barring its atypical politicians has clearly showed through their vote that they do not desire a separate homeland (in Tamil Nadu or Sri Lanka) we can be happy to look forward to a peaceful future. We are extremely happy that India has a good solid Government for it nullifies the pressures brought up by coalition partners.... things look good for India & Sri Lanka...& we can never forget friends like China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Libya & even the South American nations who stood by Sri Lanka in its darkest hours.
Things are clear for those who can view things clearly - in drawing up any changes we need to ensure that we do not formulate policies that will create new problems & it is precisely for this reason that we need to firmly accept that Tamils living in the South - the Tamils in Jaffna will have different problems to those Tamils in the East - mostly related to infrastructure, development etc - all not exclusively applicable to only Tamils, the Sinhalese & Muslims who also live in the East will have similar problems.... there are no Sinhalese & Muslims in the North as the LTTE either chased or killed those who had lived & worked there. In a developing nation such as Sri Lanka the majority of the people who belong to all the ethnic groups will naturally have problems to complain about - better education, better schools, healthcare, better roads & bridges, employment etc....is the Government expected to solve these issues first or cater to the very different problems that the richer Sinhalese, Muslims & Tamils together are likely to pinpoint? Governments come to power by the strength of the rural vote base - these are the people who remain the forgotten lot but it is from these people that even the armed forces are made up of. Similarly, it is from the 250,000 Tamils that the LTTE were able to year after year replenish their Tiger cadres...is it a surprise that the women being rescued are either pregnant or carrying small children.... these are the children who will end up brainwashed & sent to fight the Sri Lankan armed forces. Year in & year out this has been the fate of these people...so for the country to rescue them finally & eliminate the LTTE men & women who subjected these people to inhuman standards of living is something that must be repeatedly mentioned & the army to deserve appreciation.
Therefore the Government must actually take into account what changes need to be brought to the lives of these people FIRST....Starting off by compromising on shortcomings that Tamils who comfortably live amongst the Sinhalese first will lead to dire repercussions & will only lead to further discord amongst the other communities for they too will have similar problems to project. Therefore it is extremely essential that our politicians identify that changes need to take place in the North where over 250,000 Tamil people have been denied education, proper healthcare facilities, employment, loans to help them upgrade their livelihoods, better homes....these were denied to the Tamil people by the LTTE, silently watched by other Tamils in Sri Lanka & artfully orchestrated by Pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora. These people whom the army has rescued have been the guinea pigs throughout the LTTE's reign - is it a surprise that realizing the reality of the situation it is the Sinhalese who came forward to provide food, clothing & other essentials when it became apparent the Government was facing difficulty with pressures coming from the West to declare a ceasefire so that the LTTE would be able to regroup as it has done in the past - No Western nation or Government did anything to help rescue these people except declare that a ceasefire was needed knowing very well that the LTTE was keeping these people as hostages, they did not even force the pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora to allow these civilians to flee the LTTE & even the UN need to now feel ashamed for its role & the mannerisms of its representative heads who provided false statistics & attempted to create a humanitarian disaster situation.
For years the UN has been compiling reports year after year on LTTE child soldiers...nothing was done against the LTTE...the decades of reports are of no use now that the LTTE has been wiped out...its evil leaders are all dead including Prabakaran who has been shot alongside his two key men - Pottu Amman & Soosai...poetic justice for a killer who has killed thousands & ruined the lives of thousands of others. As crackers are heard in all corners of Sri Lanka - a nation that is jubilating that the army has eliminated the curse of terror those LTTE backers who now emerge to project a guerilla scenario should perhaps come to terms with the pretence that they have lived with & accept their follies & emerge a better citizen by accepting that Sri Lanka's decision to militarily defeat the LTTE has been a right one - lives have bee lost especially those of our brave soldiers but at least their parents can be proud that they died in the final battle that has rid Sri Lanka of LTTE terror - only Sri Lankans will know the magnitude of the jubilation they are feeling, only Sri Lankans will feel in their hearts the relief that we can move forward without the shadow of LTTE behind us....Sri Lanka has endured, Sri Lanka has weathered the storms & Sri Lanka will prevail a better, more prosperous & peaceful nation. Terrorism will never be allowed to enter our lives again.
"This is my home and no one can defeat me in my home"
Shenali Waduge
of the LTTE shooting Nazi style at frightened Tamils trying to escape had been seen around the world. The most virulent at NDTV was the Catholic priest Jegath Gaspar Rai who NDTV said was accused of collecting funds for the LTTE. This illustrated the close links between Christian hierarchies and Tamil racists, a connection going back to the 19th century Jaffna School of Tamil literature.
Key gover
Sri Lanka - the only nation to have defeated the LTTE & ended Terrorism
No congratulatory messages from world leaders - No applause for Sri Lanka's military - No mention for the world's biggest humanitarian rescue operation by the armed forces that rescued almost 250,000 Tamil civilians from LTTE clutches - No plaudits for the ONLY NATION to have crushed the world's worse Terrorist movement.... Did we not say that barring a few friendly nations, world leaders remained hostile towards Sri Lanka preferring instead to play fiddle to the LTTE's "liberation" "discrimination" "genocide" tune. Sri Lanka has proved the world & these world leaders wrong & as the nation continues to celebrate & rightly so there are a few key messages that need to be highlighted.
What is left for a country to do when its State land is illegally held by an armed group - which imposes taxes upon the people who live in the area, which doesn't think twice about killing those who speak or act against them (their own people), which having no volunteers ends up conscripting by force & even creating a separate wing for child soldiers, which makes millions of dollars through illegal & illicit dealings internationally but doesn't use a penny for the welfare of the people who they had to eventually use as human shields? A nation cannot have two Governments. A nation cannot have two armies & a nation cannot have two national flags. Will talks & negotiations ever concede the territory illegally held by the LTTE back to the State? Talks, negotiations & ceasefires are meant for compromise & absolutely nothing has resulted from any of these discussions held in Sri Lanka or overseas even with the biased participation of moderators & peace facilitators like Norway! The refusal for compromise only deduces that the LTTE was never interested in a political compromise but interested in nothing but a separate state which in its lengthened & delayed forms provides the perfect means to run a terrorist-cum money spinning enterprise the perfect ploy for the continuity of the movement & the assurance of VIP status & recognition & the means to hold not only a country to ransom but even thousands of people. This is the reality that lies behind a movement that has prevailed in Sri Lanka for almost 3 decades.
The confusion that has arisen from this debacle is the unfortunate decision by Tamil political parties who have chosen to hide under the skirt of the LTTE making the international community & the world in general to think that the separatist movement & the political grievances are one & the same. The fault also lies with the general Tamil public (not the destitute Tamils who have been hellholed by the LTTE) but the others who lead comfortable lives very much amongst the Sinhalese & who silently watch the lies by LTTE preferring not to speak the truth for the presence of an "ethnic" situation provides them means to apply to leave Sri Lanka & eventually obtain permanent residency in those western countries & bring the rest of their families as well. How else would 800,000 Tamils be living in the West & why are some now feverishly worried that their foreign terror campaign may be over - thus the attacks on Sri Lankan High Commissions & temples abroad - they realize their days of terrorizing non-LTTE Tamils is soon to be over & the nations that silently watched LTTE crimes take place because their Governments had indirect gains will now come down heavy upon them & many soon are likely to end up in foreign jails for these countries will have no reason to curry flavor with the LTTE propagandists since now they have no clout whatsoever in Sri Lanka.
The LTTE allowed this confusion to prevail as it suited its existence & the ethnic-based Tamil political parties tagged alongside the LTTE's lines of thought for it would ensure their lives were saved. Neither the LTTE nor these Tamil political parties would ever say what these grievances are! It is pointless speaking of or referring to things that took place decades ago - for bridges to heal things that are irrelevant need no repeated reference. Its relevance becomes a necessity if it is repeated - there is no Sinhala Only Policy taking place in the present, there is no legal or constitutional provisions that pinpoints to Tamils specifically & deny any rights to them....the question that need to be straightforwardly asked of these Tamil political parties as well as the general Tamil public is where are the exclusive denials to Tamils (in the present) when Tamils can live anywhere they like, when Tamils can own property anywhere they like, when Tamils can go to public schools, private schools, international schools are Tamils denied education, when Tamils can enter medical colleges & even top the marks list where has been the discrimination? When Tamils can join the public service & private sector climb the corporate ladder, hold professional memberships & portfolios & even join any of the political parties that are not ethnic-based & secure even cabinet portfolios where is the discrimination or denial to Tamils.....Has Sri Lanka not had Central Bank Governors who were Tamil?, Inspector General of Police who was Tamil, Chief Justice who were Tamil, a Foreign Minister who was Tamil?.... moreover merit should take precedence over ethnic-based allocations. Have the 250,000 Tamils not suffered enormously even living in a defacto Tamil Eelaam....look at these people who have been saved...they are in appalling conditions & the LTTE, the pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora are totally responsible for their plight.
In the milieu of this unhealthy-marriage of sorts with Tamil political parties & Tamil people in general choosing to remain mum over LTTE atrocities a considerable number of Tamils ended up having to suffer under duress. These are the 250,000 Tamils that the Sri Lankan army has rescued - when the world says these people are malnutritioned - they are so not because the Government has denied them food, but they are fleshless & bones because the LTTE has stolen the food for their own consumption. Many of us has noticed the high numbers of pregnant women & little children & it only suffices to assume that the LTTE were ensuring they had enough stocks of child soldiers for their gullible terror movement & provides a baseless conclusion to the ceasefire agreement entered upon in 2002 - what a farce of an agreement that only left a nation having to be humiliated by a piece of document that provided the means to bring in shipments of arms & weaponry as Sri Lankan officials were left only to silently watch with orders coming from the top with instructions to allow these shipments to go untouched to LTTE territory. Our army has a task to unearth thousands more of these weapons & arms brought during the ceasefire agreement & all those party to that treachery that took place should have sleepless nights for their role in the deaths of the innocent lives that were lost because of their silence.
What needs to be continuously reiterated is that within this hyped up grievance scenario targeted against the Sinhalese it was a pathetic reality that Tamils outside the war zones & Tamil political parties chose to side with the LTTE while the 250,000 or more Tamils ended up bait for the 3 decade long existence of the LTTE, the existence of Tamil leaderships & for other Tamils to go abroad....the Tamil Diaspora stands guilty of not sending a penny for the IDPs while they descended in large numbers on the guise of giving tsunami aid to bring replenishments for the LTTE - some of these LTTE front organizations that disguised themselves as Charitable Organizations are banned - Tamil Rehabilitation Organization , World Tamil Movement. the unhealthy tie ups to foreign MPs is enlightened through their association with these "charity" organizations & the puzzling question of why these MPs would speak for a terrorist movement banned in their own countries shows how these very MPs have misused public expenses...should we be surprised at their association with the LTTE....these MPs who have no ethics & are no better than the LTTE....we all know how to judge people like Mrs. Clinton, Miliband, the French foreign Minister, the foreign lawyers who were paid handsomely by these terrorists.. .......& politicians who could easily be bought over for money & all these people & their nations have the audacity to tell Sri Lanka what to do....can the US accept their role for killing almost a million Iraqi people through their occupation without UN mandate? Is that no different to the damage the US is doing in Afghanistan & now even in Pakistan where a democratic Government prevails but has to silently watch as the US carries aerial attacks on supposed Al Qaeda or Taliban? Can any foreign military boast that it has completed a military operation as well as saved thousands of innocent lives....in an operation where we are dealing with the worlds most terror outfit there are bound to be deaths...no military operation can take place without deaths but without appreciating that the military has saved almost 250,000 people countries & media channels enjoy promoting small numbers of death & picturing a human catastrophe situation. Are these people who have been saved not been looked after & fed daily....think of the logistics that goes towards feeding people three meals....looking after the children...keeping them occupied through the day is no easy endeavor & it is the army who first took up the task of cooking the food & feeding the people - not many even praised the army for their caring.
In the renewed calls for "post-war peace" - national reconciliation the world must now open their eyes wide & clear & the pretence must stop. The Government to its credit did right to ignore the false & fabricated moves by US, UK, EU, Norway to provide oxygen for a movement that provided side benefits to those Governments. Calling a spade a spade ensured that a 3 decade conflict unnecessarily dragged on ended in 3 years - the responsibility for the 3 decade situation falls upon many & even some of Sri Lanka's leaders in the Opposition are accountable for many preferred to use the conflict for their gain - political & monetary. In this scenario that the present Government chose instead to go against the practices of former leaderships & openly declare it will militarily defeat the LTTE is commendable for we have reaped the results in just 3 years - the megalomaniac is dead having become an instrument of his own movement for he eventually ended up just a guineapig of those providing the funds & those providing the armory - without this he was no better than a jungle thug. In actuality he was just taken for a ride by the Tamil Diaspora the LTTE lobbysists who live luxurious lives using a pretentious "ethnic conflict" scenario & who have no requirement for even a separate state as they are unlikely to ever make a home in Sri Lanka even if it were separated.
Amidst this there are some others however who become tagged to the LTTE movement who actually believe in a separate state for Tamils - this group of thinkers are those who picture a larger Eelaam with even Tamil Nadu included - a final homeland for the 80million Tamils of the world. Yet, this is a scenario that India will never allow therefore when even Tamil Nadu barring its atypical politicians has clearly showed through their vote that they do not desire a separate homeland (in Tamil Nadu or Sri Lanka) we can be happy to look forward to a peaceful future. We are extremely happy that India has a good solid Government for it nullifies the pressures brought up by coalition partners.... things look good for India & Sri Lanka...& we can never forget friends like China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Libya & even the South American nations who stood by Sri Lanka in its darkest hours.
Things are clear for those who can view things clearly - in drawing up any changes we need to ensure that we do not formulate policies that will create new problems & it is precisely for this reason that we need to firmly accept that Tamils living in the South - the Tamils in Jaffna will have different problems to those Tamils in the East - mostly related to infrastructure, development etc - all not exclusively applicable to only Tamils, the Sinhalese & Muslims who also live in the East will have similar problems.... there are no Sinhalese & Muslims in the North as the LTTE either chased or killed those who had lived & worked there. In a developing nation such as Sri Lanka the majority of the people who belong to all the ethnic groups will naturally have problems to complain about - better education, better schools, healthcare, better roads & bridges, employment etc....is the Government expected to solve these issues first or cater to the very different problems that the richer Sinhalese, Muslims & Tamils together are likely to pinpoint? Governments come to power by the strength of the rural vote base - these are the people who remain the forgotten lot but it is from these people that even the armed forces are made up of. Similarly, it is from the 250,000 Tamils that the LTTE were able to year after year replenish their Tiger cadres...is it a surprise that the women being rescued are either pregnant or carrying small children.... these are the children who will end up brainwashed & sent to fight the Sri Lankan armed forces. Year in & year out this has been the fate of these people...so for the country to rescue them finally & eliminate the LTTE men & women who subjected these people to inhuman standards of living is something that must be repeatedly mentioned & the army to deserve appreciation.
Therefore the Government must actually take into account what changes need to be brought to the lives of these people FIRST....Starting off by compromising on shortcomings that Tamils who comfortably live amongst the Sinhalese first will lead to dire repercussions & will only lead to further discord amongst the other communities for they too will have similar problems to project. Therefore it is extremely essential that our politicians identify that changes need to take place in the North where over 250,000 Tamil people have been denied education, proper healthcare facilities, employment, loans to help them upgrade their livelihoods, better homes....these were denied to the Tamil people by the LTTE, silently watched by other Tamils in Sri Lanka & artfully orchestrated by Pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora. These people whom the army has rescued have been the guinea pigs throughout the LTTE's reign - is it a surprise that realizing the reality of the situation it is the Sinhalese who came forward to provide food, clothing & other essentials when it became apparent the Government was facing difficulty with pressures coming from the West to declare a ceasefire so that the LTTE would be able to regroup as it has done in the past - No Western nation or Government did anything to help rescue these people except declare that a ceasefire was needed knowing very well that the LTTE was keeping these people as hostages, they did not even force the pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora to allow these civilians to flee the LTTE & even the UN need to now feel ashamed for its role & the mannerisms of its representative heads who provided false statistics & attempted to create a humanitarian disaster situation.
For years the UN has been compiling reports year after year on LTTE child soldiers...nothing was done against the LTTE...the decades of reports are of no use now that the LTTE has been wiped out...its evil leaders are all dead including Prabakaran who has been shot alongside his two key men - Pottu Amman & Soosai...poetic justice for a killer who has killed thousands & ruined the lives of thousands of others. As crackers are heard in all corners of Sri Lanka - a nation that is jubilating that the army has eliminated the curse of terror those LTTE backers who now emerge to project a guerilla scenario should perhaps come to terms with the pretence that they have lived with & accept their follies & emerge a better citizen by accepting that Sri Lanka's decision to militarily defeat the LTTE has been a right one - lives have bee lost especially those of our brave soldiers but at least their parents can be proud that they died in the final battle that has rid Sri Lanka of LTTE terror - only Sri Lankans will know the magnitude of the jubilation they are feeling, only Sri Lankans will feel in their hearts the relief that we can move forward without the shadow of LTTE behind us....Sri Lanka has endured, Sri Lanka has weathered the storms & Sri Lanka will prevail a better, more prosperous & peaceful nation. Terrorism will never be allowed to enter our lives again.
"This is my home and no one can defeat me in my home"
Shenali Waduge
nment strategic Indian think tanks (we have none) were taking the sub imperialist line. Prof Sahadevan the Keralite Jawarhalal Nehru University (JNU) specialist on Sri Lanka demanded on Al Jazeera that India intervene to stop our government forces. Similar anti-Sri Lankan noises were made by a researcher of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) India's main military think tank.
JNU had been founded to become the thinking arm for India. JNU experts had always advised the Indian government including on its semicolonial military adventures in Sri Lanka. All of them did not have gut anti-Sri Lankan or anti Sinhalese attitudes like Sahadevan. The founder of the Sri Lanka unit there, the late Urmila Phadnis (my personal family friend) was fond of Sri Lanka. A couple of months ago to deliver a lecture on science policy at JNU I took the opportunity to meet Sahadevan. He had just returned from Colombo University after training students there on an invitation from Jayadeva Uyangoda, his main contact in Sri Lanka. He had travelled under the auspices of the India Sri Lanka Foundation funded by the two governments in whose governing board Jayadeva Uyangoda, a gentleman with a consistent record of calling for foreign intervention in the country is our government's nominee. One wonders what the anti-Sri Lankan Sahadevan who flew on our travel money taught at Colombo University. Also what does Uyangoda teach given his many stands against the country's sovereignty?
The JNU with its present anti Sri Lanka attitudes is also an academic partner at the BCIS. The BCIS's other partner is an American university. When I asked the present director of the BCIS a physicist who has no prior training either in international relations or in any of the social sciences whether the Indian-American academic links with the BCIS was a projection of the new Indian-American alliance he sounded befuddled. He was out of depth for a question which an Indian under graduate could have understood. The BCIS was formed in the 1970s in high hopes with the late Nawaz Dawwod as its first Director (I was one of its foundation lecturers and took part in carefully selecting the first batch). What we wanted was a very different and pro-Sri Lanka approach in the BCIS. The government should now cancel the BCIS link with the anti Sri Lanka JNU and replace the anti Sri Lanka Uyangoda from the Indo Lanka board. Sri Lanka links with JNU on non-foreign service disciplines should of course continue.
As for IDSA, I gave a lecture there a couple of months ago and found that those dealing with Sri Lanka were antagonistic to us. Their Sri Lankan contacts? Desmond Fernando and if I remember correct, the ubiquitous Uyangoda.
The new Cholas
In Tamil Nadu all the parties took anti Sri Lankan and anti Sinhalese racist positions. The ghost of the Chola invaders under whose Tiger symbol the LTTE marches was still strong in Tamil Nadu. In contrast, the Sri Lanka government had gone out of the way not to allow anti Tamil statements in Sri Lanka.
Karunanidi called a hartal and shops, some fearing violence, obliged. Karunanidi himself went on a phoney six hour "fast" which was stopped when the Central government made some appropriate noises. It would also have been good for the health of the obscenely fat Jayalalitha going on a fast, a real one. Jayalalitha now publicly supported the goal of a separate Tamil Eelam.
The Chennai Archbishop Chinnappa revealing once again the axis of evil between sections of the church and Tamil racism denounced what he called the failure of the international community to prevent "mass massacre". A plain racist, he said he was with the Tamils in Sri Lanka and around the world. His Catholic church had been once involved around the world in mass scale genocide through the Portuguese and Spanish, had instituted the Inquisition and burned at the stake those who did not believe in its lies as at the central square of Goa. The church's own unholy fathers in Sri Lanka blessing the LTTE map had been nurturing the LTTE including during the CFA. Chinnappa called for international pressure on Sri Lanka adding he was "in spirit, prayer and solidarity," with the "Tamils currently living all over the world". Tamil chauvinism was written all over his statements. He added that the entire Indian Church was with the people "in the killing fields of Sri Lanka". The killing fields were a reference to the Cambodian genocide which I know well. Only after the killing fields were finished did Catholic "generosity" arrive there to unethically harvest souls which Cambodians contemptuously call "rice [meaning money] Christianity" .
The Christian Tamil link was also illustrated in the statements of Nimalka Fernando who lives with presidential adviser Vasudeva Nanayakkara in the same flat in Royal Court. An admitted Christian propagandist from the National Christian Council she gave an interview to Nilavaram, the LTTE Journal in Switzerland. She said that it was necessary for Sri Lankan NGOs to join with Tamil Nadu activists to work "against the Sinhala state". Sections of local and Indian Christians were returning to the colonial mode and waging war on Sinhalese Buddhists.
Indian Sathya
There were however dissent in Indian opinion.
Srinivasan of India's leading news portal Rediff News mentioned that LTTE's idea of Tamil Eelam had maps on their Web site which covered north and eastern Lanka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Karnataka and Andhra. He mentioned that this was "not very different from the jihadi wet-dream of a Mughalistan consisting of most of north India". Srinivasan also comments on the dubious role of the church in supporting the LTTE, the latter's key leaders being Christians while those who died in the leadership were Hindus. Prabhakaran he mentions is a Methodist.
The Indian Express head lined "Shed no tears for Tigers" in an article by Shekhar Gupta. He quoted a conversation he had with an IPKF general who had observed "These LTTE people were just macho young people with no other purpose in life but to kill and die." The Central Chronicle (from Madhya Pradesh) editorialized that the "LTTE is a terrorist traitor organization and also anti-Indian ". The Tamil Nadu parties it added, was "forcing the ideology of LTTE over India"
Not all the Indian left positions were against Sri Lanka. The leading left-wing Pioneer (once it had devoted an embarrassingly positive one page review for a book of mine) headlined "Colombo snubs meddlesome Miliband". It said that the Colombo government should be commended in spite of foreign interference for its resolute decision to destroy the LTTE root and branch. It said the military option had given amazing results and should be brought to a conclusion to become the first nation to defeat terror without a deal being made with terrorists.
The Decline of the West
Western media who were taken to the recently liberated Puthumathalan area could directly hear the contemptuous attitudes of ordinary Tamils to their sole representative. They had to eat their own words which had indirectly come from falsehoods spread through own governments' NGO coolies. The UN Colombo office, once a major faucet of Western and NGO drivel declared that children as young as 12 were being kidnapped for the last stand by the Tigers. The UN office had moved away from the expatriate role of fine dining and local gossip. (I know this first hand. My wife was a senior UN expert in Cambodia and we saw with contempt how undereducated whites were lording over innocent Cambodians).
Under the guise of a halt to the hostilities the US, Britain, Norway, Australia, France, Germany, the European Union and Japan were putting pressure to allow Prabhakaran to escape. Hillary Clinton telephoned Rajapakse asking a halt for operations as did Ban Ki Moon. But these worthies were all silent during these months when our Sun God herded these unfortunate Tamils into an ever shrinking space.
The French Foreign Minister who was the midwife for the emergence of Kosovo arrived with British Foreign Minister David Milliband. The Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was denied entry. The latter was a partner in war crimes in Bush's war on Iraq. He is allied with the most conservative US groups that under Bush wanted to launch pre-emptive imperialist wars on the rest of the world. Bildt's oil company Lundin has been charged with large-scale human rights violations in Africa.
British charities were taking Miliband to courts for gross rights violations by British mercenaries in Iraq. It transpired in a recent British court case that a former British Minister Clair Short had given thousands of dollars to the LTTE while its spy agency the MI5 maintained direct contact with the banned LTTE. Their government had earlier butchered our civilians in the Welassa genocide of 1818.
The sniff of corruption and arrogance was also in the Western air. The Indian government had lodged a formal complaint about Miliband's "arrogant" and "aggressive" behaviour in India. Over the weekend, British newspapers were questioning the use of a private plane by this little David of Little Britain.
Kouchner a supporter of the Iraq war was the founder of Medicines Sans Frontiers MSF, that new French Foreign Legion. Another French charity made false charges against the Sri Lankan army but ran away from the judicial enquiry when their lies were exposed. Kouchner had come to this enquiry as an observer and had illegally barged into the chamber of the Magistrate's court and tried to grab its records. His French government had hushed up its involvement together with Catholic priests in the Rwandan genocide - the biggest genocide since the Nazis. One of France's leading authors Pierre Péan exposed Kouchner in a bestselling book as a hypocrite serving US interests getting large sums of money as advisor to doubtful African governments while cultivating his image as a human rights MSF campaigner.
David Chater of Al Jazeera questioned both Miliband and Kouchner in their Vanni visit on Western duplicity, one standard for Sri Lanka and a different one for their terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq. Both refused to answer.
Milliband and Kouchner after their unsuccessful colonial visit was reduced to writing an article to the British Times an organ for the British Conservative party which Labour of Milliband is said to be against. Only at its very end did their article correctly describe the main villain the LTTE. In bullying other countries and doublespeak Labour is well ahead of the Conservatives. The Labour Party expected to be routed at the next election was trying to play Great Britain. David an emissary of Little Britain (yes that's what some British natives now call themselves) appeared in photos like a frightened child in front of Mahinda Rajapakse's relaxed genial firmness. Yes. Check for yourself.
To topple one man, Saddam Hussein, the West according to the British Journal Lancet killed at least 700,000 people. The number has risen since. A TV report last week showed that there were still 80,000 political prisoners held in Iraq by the West some in the most atrocious conditions, about five persons to one bed. We should not allow even hundreds of innocents to be killed at the no fire zone because we have higher standards and a longer civilisation compared to these sanctimonious colonials.
Resistance pays
The government ignored the appeals from these colonials for a ceasefire. Gotabhaya said to the Indian NDTV channel the West "should be ashamed". He added "Mind your business. We will not allow any body to interfere". In interviews with the Sunday Observer he was more explicit saying that Sri Lanka "had suffered from terrorism and it is our people who were killed by the LTTE. It is not fair for a foreign country do its best that the LTTE be allowed to surrender to an outside party". He added "this is an internal matter." He was referring to the US State Department comment calling on "the Tamil Tigers to lay down their arms and surrender to a third party".
Gotabhaya emphasised that allowing a third party to enter into the no fire zone would make the military halt the operations which should cause more harm to the civilians. This third party talk had come about through the usual villain namely Norway who had discussions with the LTTE arms dealer and Interpol fugitive "K.P.". When the "Third Party" Kouchner wanted to visit the no fire zone and meet Prabhakaran, Kouchner insisted that he Kouchner would be safe. Shot back Gotabaya "my problem is not what the LTTE will do to you but that if that happens we would not be able to take Prabhakaran as planned".
Surrender, insisted Gotabaya, was only to our armed forces. He called the last minute ceasefire declared by Tigers who were now completely surrounded by his troops "a joke" and insisted the LTTE immediately surrender. He added "What is the need for a ceasefire when they are running away? They should first lay down arms, surrender and let the people go".
As for the pressure which the US is to be bringing on the IMF to give conditions for us, we should go to the real source of that Western money. The West and IMF are in dire economic conditions. At the recent group of 20 meeting there was widespread recognition that the IMF and World Bank should be reformed to downsize Western influence. The recognition was a simple admission of facts. IMF money is today actually Chinese money which is being channelled through the United States. The US economy owes trillions of dollars to China. China bankrolls the US and if the IMF refuses we should go straight to that ultimate source of US funds, namely China. This will be fast-forwarding the day when we in Asia will once again rule the world. It would mirror the case of African nations who avoiding Western aid with strings go to China. China is our only reliable ally.
The US racist undertones prevented the repairing of houses destroyed in Hurricane Katrina in its predominantly black neighbourhoods. And the Arab houses the West destroyed in the Iraq war remain a wasteland. US companies went there only to grab the oil while killing million innocents. But we are built on a higher humanitarian ethos.
Daily TV programmes showed Sinhalese appealing for help for their Tamil brethren. Collections were being made all around the country. People were foregoing Wesak celebrations and giving that money to displaced Tamils. Significantly one did not hear of similar collections for Tamil refugees being done by Tamils in the Western province or elsewhere. I was wondering whether it was a replay after the 1978 riots when some of us were helping displaced Tamils from the poorer areas, the richer and presumably upper caste Tamils refusing to even look at them.
The next days will be a major psychological and geo-political turning point. But full rehabilitation should however follow a carefully thought out anti Nazi model, which the victorious Allies of World War II adopted in the case of a regime parallel to that of Prabahakaran. To prevent its rise again, a total dismantling of its ideological structure must be undertaken.
- 4a.
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A friend has shared their Allvoices news report
Posted by: "allvoices" noreply@allvoices.com
Tue May 19, 2009 10:43 am (PDT)
chnarendra (expressnarendra@ gmail.com) has posted an interesting
news report on www.allvoices. com <http://www.allvoice s.com> and
has shared it with you.
The news report Terror attack on police piket in Hyderabad can be
found at
http://www.allvoice s.com/contribute d-news/3246242- terror-attack- o\
n-police-piket- in-hyderabad
<http://www.allvoice s.com/contribute d-news/3246242- terror-attack- \
on-police-piket- in-hyderabad> .
We look forward to seeing you on allvoices!
Thanks,
The Allvoices Team
- 5.
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Requesting applications for Change Looms Program 2009
Posted by: "Change Looms" changelooms@gmail.com
Tue May 19, 2009 10:46 am (PDT)
[Attachment(s) from Change Looms included below]
Apologies for cross posting.
Greetings from Pravah!
We would like to inform you about the Change Looms program which could be of
interest to you and other youth you work with.
CHANGE LOOMS is a *support programme* for young people between 17-27 who
have *started* and are *running their own initiative* for *social change*.
The initiative must be youth-led, independent from existing organisations,
on-going and implementing work directly on the ground for at least six
months, with long-term plans for social change. The Change Looms Program
offers *capacity building* at a *one-week residential training workshop*, an
*opportunity to be mentored* by *leading social entrepreneurs* , a national
collective learning event, *recognition at a public event* and a grant of
Rs. 40,000 for organizational development of outstanding initiatives. The
last date for applying to the programme is 25th May 2009. For details,
please contact Navneet / Blaise at changelooms@ gmail.com
The application forms are attached with the mail. Please forward these to
the young people you work with, your network and your friends. If you prefer
that we send hard copies of application forms please let us know.
Looking forward to hear from you.
Thanks & Regards
Blaise D'Souza
Senior Coordinator, Change Looms
PRAVAH
2nd Floor, C-24B, Kalkaji,
New Delhi 110019
Tel: +91-11-26213918/ 26440619/ 26291354
Cell: 9278153973
email: blaise.dsouza@ pravah.org
www.younginfluencer s.com
www.pravah.orgAttachment(s) from Change Looms
2 of 2 File(s)
- 6.
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NATO should help Pakistan?
Posted by: "S Turkman" turkman@sbcglobal.net turkman@sbcglobal.net
Tue May 19, 2009 10:47 am (PDT)
Oh yeah, yeah, NATO should help Pakistan, while Pak Army keeps getting NATO Warehouses and Supply Convoys blown-up in its secret war against it.
USA should even surrender the latest Drone Technology to Pakistan so, Pakistan can copy and manufacture millions of them to attack and nuke India.
Allaho Akbar ...!
------------ --------- --------- --------- ---
--- Ahsan Waheed <pakistanpal@ ...> wrote:
>
> Leo Michel and Shuja Nawaz
>
> Pakistan needs help. President Asif Ali Zardari and army chief General
> Ashfaq Kayani, who were publicly urged last month by Defense Secretary
> Robert Gates to "recognize the real threats to their country," have
> sent a considerable military force to staunch the spreading extremist
> threat in the Swat region near Afghanistan.
>
> But now they are struggling to cope with a reported exodus of over one
> million Pakistanis - perhaps the largest in the troubled nation's
> history after the flood of refugees at the time of independence - who
> want to escape the fighting. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees
> recently warned: "This is a huge and rapidly unfolding emergency which
> is going to require considerable resources beyond those that currently
> exist in the region."
>
> Pakistan has begun to put together an official relief effort, but it
> is hampered by a lack of financing and equipment. If Pakistan's
> leadership fails to provide timely relief to the internally displaced
> population, it almost certainly will suffer a serious backlash of
> public resentment. Ironically, this might accomplish the very
> destabilization of central authority that the Islamist militants and
> their Al Qaeda associates hope for - and that the United States and
> its NATO Allies want to prevent.
>
> But what can NATO do? History suggests that it can do a lot and
> rapidly. Moreover, a broad-based NATO support may be politically more
> palatable than any single-country relief effort in Pakistan.
>
> In October 2005, when Pakistan requested NATO assistance to deal with
> a devastating earthquake, the Alliance needed only three days to
> activate its NATO Response Force (NRF) and begin a major airlift of
> relief supplies. NATO engineering and medical units and heavy lift
> helicopters soon followed. By February 2006, NATO's "air bridge" of
> 168 flights had delivered nearly 3,500 tons of aid, its engineers had
> repaired essential roads and shelters and its doctors had treated over
> 8,000 patients, often in remote villages.
>
> The 17-week operation, which involved about 1,200 Allied military
> personnel, opened the door to political dialogue as well: over the
> next year, high-level NATO and Pakistani officials exchanged their
> first-ever visits, Pakistani military officers and civilians attended
> a NATO school in Germany and NATO's International Security Assistance
> Force (ISAF), Pakistan and Afghanistan opened a joint intelligence
> operations center in Kabul. Last year, General Kayani visited NATO
> headquarters and spoke about the regional dimensions of Pakistan's
> security concerns.
>
> NATO's stake in Pakistan has steadily increased since its earthquake
> relief operation. Taliban and al Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan's
> western territories have fueled the growing insurgency in southern and
> eastern Afghanistan, producing a virtual stalemate there with ISAF and
> Afghan army forces, and NATO supply routes through Pakistan are under
> attack. Allied leaders first acknowledged the need for a regional
> approach during their April 2008 Bucharest Summit, but faced with
> mounting violence, they were more explicit at last month's
> Strasbourg-Kehl Summit, warning: "[E]xtremists in Pakistan especially
> in western areas and insurgency in Afghanistan undermine security and
> stability in both countries and ... the problems are deeply
> intertwined. "
>
> A NATO combat role inside Pakistan is simply inconceivable, but many
> of the capabilities employed by the Alliance in the earthquake's
> aftermath would be relevant today. The NRF has a readily available air
> component, now under UK command, that could recreate the 2005-6 air
> bridge to deliver the tents, field hospitals and medical and other
> supplies donated by Allies, Partners, international aid agencies and
> non-government organizations. A prominent British role in the NATO
> mission would be quite acceptable to the Pakistani leadership and
> public, given long ties between Pakistan and the United Kingdom.
> Theater air assets, both fixed wing and helicopters, could help with
> distribution within Pakistan. The NRF land component, now under French
> command, could deploy engineer units and medical personnel to work
> directly with the displaced persons.
>
> As was the case after the earthquake, NATO would work in support of
> Pakistan's military and civilian authorities and in coordination with
> the UN, European Commission and other international donors. Thus, the
> Alliance would operationalize the "comprehensive approach" (NATO-speak
> for the effective combination of civilian and military capabilities in
> a "whole of government" effort) agreed in its Declaration on Alliance
> Security at Strasbourg-Kehl.
>
> To be sure, even a limited operation of two to three months would be
> costly. Some of the Allies involved in the post-earthquake effort
> complained bitterly at the time about the lack of NATO common funding
> for their NRF role. NATO needs to take urgent action to alleviate that
> problem - for now, common funding covers only the fuel of NRF air
> assets - but costs cannot be a show-stopper. Providing security for
> the NATO personnel would be another important consideration, but with
> careful planning and reasonable cooperation from the Pakistani
> military, this need not be an insuperable obstacle. (NATO personnel
> were generally well-received by the population in 2005-6.)
>
> On the other hand, beyond the inherent moral value of humanitarian
> relief, the strategic impact of demonstrating NATO's willingness to
> once again extend a hand to a Muslim population that is voting with
> its feet against extremist domination should not be underestimated.
> Think about winning "hearts and minds."
>
> NATO's top decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, would
> have to agree by consensus on any Alliance involvement. As a first
> step, the Council presumably would need an expeditious assessment by
> its military and civilian staffs of the risks, costs and benefits of
> such involvement. But the Council will not ask for such an assessment
> absent an official request for assistance by Pakistan.
>
> Will someone in Islamabad pick up the phone?
>
> Leo Michel is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for National
> Strategic Studies. These are his personal views. Shuja Nawaz is
> Director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council. Reuters
> Pictures.
>
> Article Source : http://www.acus. org/new_atlantic ist/nato- should-help- pakistan
- 7.
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Fwd: An undercurrent of evil in government- Kishali Pinto Jayawarden
Posted by: "Tapan Kumar Bose" bose.tapan@gmail.com
Tue May 19, 2009 10:47 am (PDT)
FYI
http://www.sundayti mes.lk/090517/ Columns/focus. html
An undercurrent of evil in government
By Kishali Pinto Jayawardene
There is a profound perversity in the events that are unfolding now in the
Wanni. Decades back, when July 1983 happened, I recall the protestations of
many Southern Sinhalese who felt that their individual actions in shielding
Tamil innocents caught up in the mob violence would somehow absolve
themselves of the horror of that time. The fact of the matter however was
that these interventions, (however brave they may have been), were not
enough to cleanse ourselves of the stain of collective guilt.
Much more was required to ensure that this country would never again witness
such atrocities. Cosmetic "Truth Commissions" (such as the so called
Commission of the July 1983 riots presided over by a former Chief Justice,
himself a member of the Tamil community) played a singularly pathetic role
in this process. Perhaps far more was achieved by the collectively outraged
soul searching that held our politicians in check for many years thereafter.
Indeed, the boast was that July 1983 would never happen again and for years,
we could tentatively believe in this boast.
Erosion of a collective consciousness
Yet now, propelled by the despicably expedient actions of the LTTE in its
using of civilians as a human shield against the advancing military taken
together with the erosion of civil liberties by the Rajapaksa
administration, this collective consciousness is being gradually eroded in
the South. Far too many of those among us are apt to satisfy their
consciences in regard to the continuing loss of civilian life in the Wanni
merely by donating money towards food and other supplies, as a demonstration
of the benevolent majority towards a helpless and trapped minority, as much
as (uncannily) we did in 1983. But far more is required by us to demand from
our government. We need to demand greater accountability, not only in the
manner of warfare that the government engages in within the few kilometres
of land in which the LTTE is using human shields but also in the so called
welfare camps to which the refugees are fleeing.
Deaths in welfare camps
While the necessity to observe strict security safeguards is self evident
(given the dangers of the LTTE merging with the refugees), the predicament
of persons inside these camps should be fully understood not as the
propaganda of our enemies but the actual terrible fate of those caught in a
battle not of their own. A recent court order dated 27/04/2009 by a District
Magistrate of Vavuniya illustrated the plight of elderly persons within
these camps, thirty of whom had died due to starvation. This court order
registers that the deaths have been due to lack of maintenance and caring
facilities within the camps. Recent eye witness accounts of visits to these
camps indicate the extent to which basic facilities have become a problem
and the deep sense of insecurity that the internally displaced persons feel.
Probably the government will discredit these findings as they have indeed,
discredited the evidence of doctors in hospitals situated within the no-fire
zone, the boundaries of which itself are in flux. Yet, as observed in last
week's column, much of the stepped up international pressure directed
towards the government may be defused if concrete steps are taken towards
reversing an overt policy of racism that is actively pursued by some of the
leading figures in this administration.
In other words, the undercurrent of evil lying beneath the government's
hugely successful propaganda effort that Victory Day is nigh, needs to be
dealt with head on. For many of us, including the highly educated, (as well
as, for that matter, a sizeable portion of the privileged Tamil elite), the
wholesale decimation of the LTTE is an end, by and of itself. As the
thinking goes, everyone then would be able to heave a sigh of relief and
life as it existed in this idyllic isle before the LTTE (was there every
such a life?) would be gradually restored, bringing sanity and order back.
Destabilization of the legal regime
But this is, of course, the most dangerously disingenuous of day dreams. The
military victories won at such high cost to our ordinary men and women who
serve in the armed forces have served as a cover for an increasingly bold
destabilizing and demoralizing of our constitutional and legal systems of
governance as well their replacement with an alternative regime of political
power. Each week, each day, there are examples that illustrate this
statement. One of the most recent cases concerned an activist and sociology
graduate Stephen Sunthararaj who was arrested purportedly on suspicion of
LTTE involvement. During his time in detention, demands were made to his
family to pay ransom money. However, given that the formal legal process had
been set in motion, the demands for ransom were not acceded to. He was
released on court order on May 7 once it was found that there was no
evidence against him. However, some hours following his release, he was
abducted by unknown figures and his whereabouts remain unknown up to date.
His case bears a striking resemblance to the plight of Sudar Oli editor N
Vidyatharan who was similarly released upon lack of evidence but who was
sufficiently fortunate enough to escape the later fate that befell
Sunthararaj. As must be recalled, Vidyatharan was one of several who,
despite being released after exhaustive investigations and judicial
scrutiny, were categorized by prominent members in this administration,
including the Defence Secretary, as terrorists. These cases, taken
individually and collectively amounts effectively to a situation where the
writ of the court does not run in the South and where court orders are not
respected. What more needs to be said to illustrate the grave plight that we
are in?
Abandoning the Constitution and the law
And what has been the fate of other oversight mechanisms? The National
Police Commission's term expired recently and to all intents and purposes,
it is a matter of time before the other 'independent' commissions under the
17th Amendment follow suit. Vital appointments, including to the head of Sri
Lanka's judiciary, are pending in the coming months, all of which would be
effected without reference to the Constitutional Council by President
Rajapaksa without even the figleaf of adherence to the Constitution.
Yet many among us still continue to cling to the belief that what is wrong
with our country is the LTTE and only the LTTE. This is what is veritably
and truly astounding. This is what has to change, if not now in the jubilant
flush of believing that we have defeated the enemy, then surely before it is
too late for this country and for our democratic systems.
--
மாட�ச�மை தாங�கிய மன�னர�கள� மன� ப�ழ�தியை ஆளட�ட�ம�- Let the majestic kings
rule the dust
"We shall have to repent in this generation , not so much for the evil deeds
of the wicked people, but for the appalling silence of the good people."~
Martin Luther King, Jr.
--
Tapan Kumar Bose
B-10 Green park
New Delhi 110016, INDIA
Tel: +91-11-26867694 (home)
Tel: +91-11-46036051/ 52
Fax: +91-11-46036053
Cell: +91-9818001206
- 8.
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Kerala has a bad history...
Posted by: "Yamini Kumar" yaminiku@gmail.com
Tue May 19, 2009 10:49 am (PDT)
*Kerala has a bad history...*
**
*have a look at **Marad Hindu
Massacre*<http://marad- hindu-massacre. blogspot. com/>
* *
**
*Click **http://marad- hindu-massacre. blogspot. com/*<http://marad- hindu-massacre. blogspot. com/>
On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 6:46 AM, n chro <nchromail@gmail. com> wrote:
> Kerala Police fires at fishing community, four dead<http://nchro. org/index. php?option= com_content& view=article& id=6847:kerala- police-fires- at-fishing- community- four-dead& catid=12: stateviolations& Itemid=7>
>
>
> <http://nchro. org/index. php?view= article&catid= 12:stateviolatio ns&id=6847: kerala-police- fires-at- fishing-communit y-four-dead& format=pdf& option=com_ content&Itemid= 7>
>
>
> <http://nchro. org/index. php?view= article&catid= 12:stateviolatio ns&id=6847: kerala-police- fires-at- fishing-communit y-four-dead& tmpl=component& print=1&layout= default&page= &option=com_ content&Itemid= 7>
>
>
> <http://nchro. org/index. php?option= com_mailto& tmpl=component& link=aHR0cDovL25 jaHJvLm9yZy9pbmR leC5waHA/ b3B0aW9uPWNvbV9j b250ZW50JnZpZXc9 YXJ0aWNsZSZpZD02 ODQ3OmtlcmFsYS1w b2xpY2UtZmlyZXMt YXQtZmlzaGluZy1j b21tdW5pdHktZm91 ci1kZWFkJmNhdGlk PTEyOnN0YXRldmlv bGF0aW9ucyZJdGVt aWQ9Nw==>
>
>
>
- 9.
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Hard Facts â€" Banias Are India’s Worst Enemies
Posted by: "Ravinder Singh" progressindia008@yahoo.com progressindia008
Tue May 19, 2009 10:49 am (PDT)
Hard Facts â€" Banias Are India’s Worst Enemies
Â
Dear Mr. Gupta,
I can’t make out why you have turned against Manmohan Singh for delivering some million crores in the pocket of people of India.
Â
You are silent when it comes to exploitation by Banias and Traders that have rendered Indians hungry starving and insecure.
Â
Yesterday I read market cap of Corporate India went up from Rs. 3.8million Crores to Rs. 4.4million Crores. Chorwadi Ambani family alone is worth Rs.1million Crores. Dhiru a school dropout can’t even read and write properly indulged in all kinds of illegal activities in 30 years becomes richest family- all through hoardings, cheating, frauds and political manipulations etc.
Â
How is that Banias who have not developed a single technology own, operate and manage 90% of business in India?
Â
In communist Russia and China Banias were executed en-mass. In USA Banias who fiddled with accounts of companies like Ken Lay were put in JAIL for 20-30 years â€" no Bania in USA convicted of even minor crimes in India like FORGING receipts etc have alive from jails in USA.
Â
Hindus, particularly Half Pant walas supported and promoted and protected Banias and traders for 82 years.
Â
How can you justify a cricket procured for Rs.100 from Kashmir is retailed for Rs.1000 in Delhi?
Â
Idi Amin threw out Gujarati traders who were perceived EXPLOITERS.
Â
People are hungry and starving because an apple procured from farmers for Rs.1 is retailed in Delhi means you pay for one 10 apple but get only one and thus starve.
Â
NDA and RSS under Vajpayee Advani let Banias PLUNDER INDIA ANY WAY THEY LIKE.
Â
Ravinder Singh
May20, 2009
Â
HARD FACTS-----Hindus are their own worst enemies!
Â
Vikas Sharma
v4vikey@yahoo. co.in
A few heart-whole, sincere, and energetic person can do more in a year than a mob in a century -Swami Vivekanand
come and do some efforts to make a better India
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/love4india
--- On Sun, 17/5/09,
Deepak Ganju <deepakganju@ hotmail.com> wrote:
Date: Sunday, 17 May, 2009, 1:32 AM
The recent poll results are not a surprise but what could you expect when Hindu vote is divided and split against a consolidated Muslim and Christian vote bank? Don't get surprised or shocked as perhaps a Hindu will still not awaken from centuries old deep slumber, and a psyche of being ruled by foreigners be it Muslim Invaders, Christian missionaries or now by their qualified puppets.
They are used to getting beaten and killed in their own country while walking in a street, shopping at a market or staying in a hotel, finding their brothers, sisters and mothers living in refugee camps, denied jobs for being born in a brahmin, business or a warrior Hindu family, taxed instead of subsidized and in some cases even denied pilgrimage. And still we Hindus not only vote but reward and bring back an inapt, weak and corrupt party of puppets and appeasers responsible for all these evils.
The question we should ask is how open and blatant anti Hindu governments in Center and States have been formed for such a long time continuously in so called democratic India and why? The reason for anti Hindu regimes to succeed is an illusion of good governance created by an extremely biased Indian media funded by Christian Ministries, Gospels, Communists, Gulf money and corrupt politicians *(see below). The centuries old enemies of India, Muslims and Christian Missionaries, are now within reach of their nefarious dream of destroying India.
When will we Hindus wake up before it is too late?
Deepak Ganju
NDTV*:
A very popular TV news media is funded by Gospels of Charity in Spain Supports Communism. Recently it has developed a soft corner towards Pakistan because Pakistan President has allowed only this channel to be aired in Pakistan. Indian CEO Prannoy Roy is co-brother of Prakash Karat, General Secretary of the Communist party of India .His wife and Brinda Karat are sisters.
India Today:
Which used to be the only national weekly which supported BJP is now bought by NDTV!! Since then the tone has changed drastically and turned into Hindu bashing.
CNN-IBN:
This is 100 percent funded by Southern Baptist Church with its branches in all over the world with HQ in US. The Church annually allocates $800 million for promotion of its channel. Its Indian head is Rajdeep Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghosh.
Times group list:
Times Of India, Mid-Day, Nav-Bharth Times, Femina, Filmfare, Vijaya Karnataka, Times now (24- hour news channel) and many more.
Times Group is owned by Bennett & Coleman. 'World Christian Council does 80 percent of the Funding, and an Englishman and an Italian equally share balance 20 percent. The Italian Robertio Mindo is a closerelative of Sonia Gandhi.
Star TV:
It is run by an Australian, who is supported by St. Peters Pontifical Church Melbourne.
Hindustan Times:
Owned by Birla Group, but hands have changed since Shobana Bhartiya took over. Presently it is working in Collaboration with Times Group.
The Hindu:
English daily, started over 125 years has been recently taken over by Joshua Society, Berne , Switzerland. . N. Ram's wife is a Swiss national.
Indian Express:
Divided into two groups. The Indian Express and the New Indian Express (southern edition) ACTS Christian Ministries have major stake in the Indian Express and latter is still with the Indian counterpart.
The Statesman:
It is controlled by Communist Party of India.
Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle:
Â
Is owned by a Saudi Arabian Company with its chief Editor M.J. Akbar.
Gujarat riots which took place in 2002 where Hindus were burnt alive,
Rajdeep Sardesai and Bharkha Dutt working for NDTV at that time got around 5 Million Dollars from Saudi Arabia to cover only Muslim victims, which they did very faithfully.. . Not a single Hindu family was interviewed or shown on TV whose near and dear ones had been burnt alive, it is reported.
Tarun Tejpal of tehelka.com/
Tehelka.com_ regularly gets blank cheques from Arab countries to target BJP and Hindus only, it is said. The ownership explains the control of media in India by foreigners. The result is obvious.
----- Original Message -----
From: Prof R K Gupta-India
Sent: Saturday, May 16, 2009 6:55 AM
Congress manages to wring back to power
It is unfortunate but true that in this country only 50% people vote and out of those who vote 60% are illiterate. good part of them vote for caste factor and for Wine and currency note gifts.
Indian democracy is fraud. Opposition parties like BJP instead taking secular shape focus only on one religion thus giving upper hand to small fraudulent parties. People really have no alternative to vote.
In last 5 years of serious neglect and mismanagement Manmohan Government has caused havoc on commodity prices, property prices, corruption and law and order. Man Mohan government went on unchecked taxation after taxation and charging citizens for everything in name of PPP.
The stock markets boomed and collapsed resulting in lacs of crores going out of country. Nothing was done to reduce corruption and plug exit of black money being looted from people regularly.
There has been no evidence of reforms of judiciary and its expansion despite a paltry sum of Rs 800 crores required each year. This money can be easily recovered from criminals by increased penalties which are 60 years old.
Despite failure after failure and tough time being faced by homeless and food less citizens, congress has managed large seats.
In any case, now is time for Man Mohan and his associates to review their failures and list concrete programs to reverse price rise and property rise and to bring in lasting and deep reforms in economy including judicial system.
We would like to form a policy paper and performance appraisal points for Man Mohan Singh to closely monitor congress led government performance and confront them from time to time. There is no alternative but for opposition parties like BJP to make a shadow cabinet and people's organization to monitor babudom and politicians on failure to achieve people friendly metrics.
We would like to set targets for Man Mohan Government in each important area and also send guidelines to them as to how to do it and circulate this on forums and in press too.
That seems to be a logical and best possible way to assist government and confront them on failures in true form of democracy system.
Members may please start discussion thread on this and evolve points with concrete yardsticks to be compiled and send it to all political parties in parliament to deliver results. All political parties in fact participate in running government through floor discussions and voting.
Let us start building this policy and program implementation guideline.
Prof R K Gupta
www.indiaforce. org
- 10.
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Mideast: Obama's peace plan 'misleading', says Hamas spokesman
Posted by: "marco.pertoni@libero.it" marco.pertoni@libero.it sitrep_comalp
Tue May 19, 2009 10:52 am (PDT)
Mideast: Obama's peace plan 'misleading' , says Hamas spokesman
Gaza City, 19 May (AKI) - US president Barack Obama's proposals for a new regional peace initiative are "misleading" , according to a key spokesman for the Islamist Hamas movement, Fawzi Barhoum. Obama on Monday met Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is in Washington on his first official visit.
"Obama's statements and messages of hope are meant to mislead global public opinion regarding the continued existence and conduct of the racist and extremist Zionist entity," said Fawzi Barhoum, quoted by Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
Obama has foreshadowed a new initiative to be announced during his visit to the Egyptian capital Cairo in June.
Barhoum said Netanyahu neglected to mention the rights of the Palestinian people but emphasized the demand to have Hamas recognise Israel as a Jewish state. He said Obama failed to pressure Netanyahu on this issue.
During talks with Obama, Netanyahu also stopped short of mentioning support for the establishment of a Palestinian state, and instead said he would begin negotiations with the Palestinians "immediately" .
"Therefore, the stance of the American president does not bode a better future for our people. What we have seen is a continued development of the Zionist-American relationship at the expense of our people and our rights," said Barhoum.
He also called on the West Bank-ruling Palestinian Authority not to renew negotiations with "the Zionist enemy."
Barhoum concluded by saying that "any return to the negotiating table presents a grave danger to the Palestinian people and its interest, and could enable the racist Jewish state to continue hurting our people."
However, a presidential aide to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, led by the more secular Fatah movement, said Obama's words were "encouraging" , while Netanyahu's were "disappointing" .
http://www.adnkrono s.com/AKI/ English/Security /?id=3.0. 3331615934
- 11.
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Mideast: EU presidency 'not happy' with Israeli policies
Posted by: "marco.pertoni@libero.it" marco.pertoni@libero.it sitrep_comalp
Tue May 19, 2009 10:52 am (PDT)
Mideast: EU presidency 'not happy' with Israeli policies
Brussels, 31 March (AKI) - The European Union presidency, headed by the Czech Republic, said it is "not happy" with Israel's policies in Gaza and the West Bank and said an Israel-EU summit is unlikely to take place in the next three months.
"We are not happy with some of the steps of the Israeli government, namely construction works close to Jerusalem but also access to Gaza, which is today very limited," said Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg quoted by daily Lidove Noviny.
Schwarzenberg' s comments about construction works refer to Jewish settlements inside the Palestinian territories and take place the same day incoming conservative prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu swore in his government.
Schwarzenberg' s view is echoed by the European Commission's spokesperson for external relations, Christiane Hohmann.
"Given how things are at the moment, we cannot but support the opinion expressed by the EU's presidency about an EU-Israel summit," said Hohmann on Tuesday.
Around 300,000 Israeli settlers live east of the 1967 Green Line that separates Israel from the West Bank. The figures exclude East Jerusalem which is primarily inhabited by Arabs, however Jewish settlers number over 191,000 in that part of the city.
Israel's construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has increased mistrust of Israel's intentions among Palestinian negotiators and are considered illegal under international law. They are one of the most contentious issues in the long-running conflict.
Last Wednesday, Netanyahu - chief of the conservative Likud party said he would engage in peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. He is not known to support a separate Palestinian state, favouring instead Palestinian economic development and greater autonomy.
However, Israeli daily Haaretz also reported last Wednesday that Netanyahu and the chief of the Yisrael Beiteinu party Avigdor Lieberman had struck a secret deal to continue expanding Jewish settlements inside the Palestinian territories.
A source close to the negotiations between the pair told Israel's Army Radio that the plan did not appear in the official coalition deal. The plan is for the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim to build 3,000 new housing units on the territory, which stretches between it and Jerusalem.
The view of expanding settlements is not shared by the Obama administration or the EU.
Last Friday, the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, urged the new Israeli government to accept the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
http://www.adnkrono s.com/AKI/ English/Politics /?id=3.0. 3160188650
- 12.
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Mideast: Italian financial aid for Gazan families blocked by Israel
Posted by: "marco.pertoni@libero.it" marco.pertoni@libero.it sitrep_comalp
Tue May 19, 2009 10:52 am (PDT)
Mideast: Italian financial aid for Gazan families blocked by Israel
Gaza City, 30 March (AKI) - Israel has refused to allow the distribution of funds provided by the Italian government for almost 24,500 of the poorest Gazan families in the blockaded coastal strip. The social welfare payments were meant to be made on Monday, but there is not enough cash available in Gaza's banks.
The Italian pledge was made through the EU's PEGASE financial mechanism, said the Palestine Liberation Organization' s official news agency Palestine Media Centre.
"The more than 24,500 families based in the Gaza Strip who should be receiving this payment will be unable to collect it until Israel eases the restrictions on the transfer of cash into the Gaza Strip," said PEGASE in a statement.
PEGASE is currently used to provide fuel for electricity generation, for the payment of social allowances to 24,500 vulnerable families and the salaries of over 28,000 civil servants and pensioners in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The mechanism has enabled aid worth 421 million euros from the EU and 130 million euros from other donors to reach the Palestinians since it was set up in January 2007.
"It is highly regrettable that, for the second time running, the Palestinian Authority and the EU have been unable to reach these families through this assistance," European Commission Representative Christian Berger said.
"We continue to make every effort to persuade the Israeli authorities to ensure that sufficient cash reaches the Gaza strip to enable this payment to be made, as well as other crucial payments such as salaries and pensions."
http://www.adnkrono s.com/AKI/ English/Security /?id=3.0. 3155310329
- 13.
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UN expert on trafficking in persons to visit Belarus and Poland
Posted by: "MS Giri" ms.giri.bebl@gmail.com msgiri_bebl
Tue May 19, 2009 10:53 am (PDT)
POSTED BY: HREA noreply@hrea. org
Subject: UN expert on trafficking in persons to visit Belarus and Poland
UNITED NATIONS Press release
18 May 2009
GENEVA – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons,
especially women and children, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, will undertake country
visits to Belarus from 18 to 24 May 2009, and to Poland from 25 to 29 May
2009, at the invitation of each Government.
The Special Rapporteur will meet with Government officials, civil society
members and representatives of UN agencies, and may also conduct visits
outside of the capital cities.
At the end of each country visit, the Special Rapporteur will hold a press
conference to share her preliminary findings with representatives of the
media. Based on the information obtained during each visit, the Special
Rapporteur will present a report containing her conclusions and
recommendations to a forthcoming session of the Human Rights Council.
Ms. Ezeilo, a Nigerian national, assumed her functions as Special Rapporteur
on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children on 1 August
2008. Ms. Ezeilo is a human rights lawyer and professor at the University of
Nigeria. She has also served in various governmental capacities, including
as Honourable Commissioner for Ministry of Women Affairs & Social
Development in Enugu State and as a Delegate to the National Political
Reform Conference. She has consulted for various international organizations
and is also involved in several NGOs, particularly working on women's
rights. She has published extensively on a variety of topics, including
human rights, women's rights, and Shari'a law.
For further information on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, please
visit the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (
http://www2. ohchr.org/ english/issues/ trafficking/ index.htm) or contact
SRtrafficking@ ohchr.org
- 14.
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UN focus on plight of civilians in post-conflict Sri Lanka
Posted by: "HREA noreply@hrea.org" HREA noreply@hrea.org msgiri_bebl
Tue May 19, 2009 10:53 am (PDT)
POSTED BY: HREA noreply@hrea. org
Subject: UN focus on plight of civilians in post-conflict Sri Lanka
18 May 2009 – The United Nations is closely watching the situation in Sri
Lanka, where the Government has declared an end to its military operation
against Tamil separatists, while focusing on assisting the hundreds of
thousands of civilians displaced by the conflict, a top United Nations
official said today.
"The situation is volatile so the facts are not as clear as one might hope,"
Under-Secretary- General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes told a news
conference in New York.
The Government of Sri Lanka has declared that its military operation against
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the north-east of the country
has come to an end and that all the civilians that were trapped in the
conflict zone have left.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had
estimated that over 50,000 people were still in the conflict zone, a
shrinking pocket of land on the northern coastline, as of last week.
"Obviously, we're relieved that the fighting is finished and hope that all
the civilians are indeed out of that zone and indeed heading for safety,"
said Mr. Holmes, who is also UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.
"But it's hard for us to be absolutely sure about that for the moment. That
is one of the things that we're trying to check, but we believe that the
civilians are actually out of that zone on the basis of what we know at the
moment."
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is considering a visit to the country,
dispatched his Chief of Staff, Vijay Nambiar, to the country last week.
Mr. Nambiar is "engaged in close consultation with Government officials and
others on how best to respond to the humanitarian situation of the large
number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and initiate a process for
early recovery and long-term reconciliation, rehabilitation and
reconstruction," UN spokesperson Marie Okabe said today.
"The situation calls for maximum care and restraint in dealing with the
large number of civilians and their humanitarian and security needs, as well
as with surrendering LTTE cadres," she added.
OCHA estimates that there are around 220,000 people who have already reached
the IDP camps, including 20,000 in the last two or three days. In addition,
it is believed that another 40,000-60,000 people are on their way to the
camps through the crossing point at Omanthai.
Mr. Holmes noted that the large influx of people poses "major humanitarian
challenges" in terms of providing shelter and other basic services, such as
food, clean water and medical services. "The conditions in these camps are
certainly not ideal. They're not up to international standards yet but
everybody is working very hard to try to make sure that they are."
Other issues of concern include the civilian nature of the camps, freedom of
movement, distribution of identification cards to those in the camps, family
reunification, and access to the camps, he said. "We've had full access so
far and we hope that will be maintained because that's absolutely vital for
us."
Mr. Holmes added that the UN does not have any figures or reliable
information on the death toll. "But we have fears that in the course of the
last few days of the campaign there were extra deaths of civilians, despite
all the efforts that may have been made to avoid that," he said.
UN News Centre
- 15.
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UAE: Exploited workers building 'Island of Happiness'
Posted by: "HREA noreply@hrea.org" HREA noreply@hrea.org msgiri_bebl
Tue May 19, 2009 10:53 am (PDT)
POSTED BY: HREA noreply@hrea. org
Subject: UAE: Exploited workers building 'Island of Happiness'
Human Rights Watch Press release
May 19, 2009
(Abu Dhabi) - Thousands of South Asian migrant workers building a US$27
billion island development in the United Arab Emirates face severe
exploitation and abuse, in some cases amounting to forced labor, Human
Rights Watch said in a report released today. Labor-supply agencies,
construction companies, and repressive laws are responsible for the abuse.
The 80-page report, "'The Island of Happiness': Exploitation of Migrant
Workers on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi <http://www.hrw. org/node/ 83111>,"
found that while the UAE government has moved to improve housing conditions
and ensure the timely payment of wages in recent years, many labor abuses
remain commonplace. International institutions planning to open branches on
the island - including the Guggenheim, New York University (NYU), and the
French Museum Agency (responsible for the Louvre Abu Dhabi) - should
urgently obtain enforceable contractual guarantees that construction
companies will protect workers' fundamental rights on their projects, Human
Rights Watch said.
"These international institutions need to show that they will not tolerate
or benefit from the gross exploitation of these migrant workers," said Sarah
Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
"The vague assurances they've received from their development partners are
hollow substitutes for firm contractual agreements that their projects will
be different from business as usual in Abu Dhabi."
Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, hopes to turn Saadiyat Island (the
"island of happiness") into an international tourist destination. The
low-lying island will have four museums and a performing arts center
designed by world-renowned architectural firms - including Ateliers Jean
Nouvel, Foster and Partners, and Gehry Partners - as well as a campus of New
York University, golf courses, hotels, and expensive residences.
Workers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other South Asian countries
have been building the island's infrastructure since Abu Dhabi formed the
Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) to oversee the project in
2005. On May 27, 2009, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is scheduled to lay
the foundation stone of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. The museum is expected to open
in 2013.
Based on interviews with migrant workers, and meetings with UAE and French
government officials, as well as officers of international institutions and
corporations with projects on the island, the Human Rights Watch report
documents a cycle of abuse that leaves migrant workers deeply indebted,
badly paid, and unable to stand up for their rights or even quit their jobs.
The UAE government and the authorities responsible for developing Saadiyat
Island have failed to tackle the root causes of worker abuse: unlawful
recruiting fees, broken promises of wages, and a sponsorship system that
gives an employer virtually complete power over his workers.
To obtain the visas needed to work in the UAE, nearly all workers Human
Rights Watch interviewed on Saadiyat Island paid hefty fees to "labor-supply
agencies" in their home countries that are contracted to supply workers to
construction companies in the UAE. Because the agencies promised good terms
of employment in the UAE, many workers sold their homes or land or borrowed
money at high rates of interest to pay the agencies' fees. Upon arrival in
the UAE, the indebted workers - many of whom are illiterate - are required
to sign contracts with the construction companies on much worse terms than
they had been promised back home. Workers have virtually no recourse against
the agencies that cheated them with false promises of good wages and
exploitative recruiting fees.
UAE laws prohibit agencies from charging workers such fees. The agencies are
supposed to charge the companies, but the law is not enforced. Further,
there are no penalties if companies, pursuing their own financial interests,
knowingly work with agencies that make workers pay the fees.
Workers face the choice of quitting their jobs while still owing thousands
of dollars for the unlawful recruiting fees, or continuing to work in
exploitative conditions. Virtually all complained of low pay and
poor-quality healthcare. Nor can workers effectively demand better pay or
living conditions, because UAE laws do not protect the basic rights to form
unions, bargain collectively, or strike. Instead, the UAE's "sponsorship"
system gives employers nearly absolute control over the workers' lawful
employment and presence in the country, with visas tied to individual
employers. All workers said that when they arrived in the UAE, their
employers had confiscated their passports. Employers can move to revoke the
visa of a worker who quits, leading to deportation.
Some workers reported conditions that amount to forced labor: their employer
threatened to fine them heavily if they tried to quit before they had worked
for two years, which effectively confined them to the "island of happiness."
Workers are generally not aware of their rights and are afraid of expressing
grievances, and independent and effective monitoring is lacking.
"The museums and NYU should insist that their local development partners
guarantee workers' basic rights, which at minimum should include
reimbursement for unlawful recruiting fees, official contracts in their
native language signed prior to their arrival, and the right to strike and
bargain collectively, " said Whitson. "And they should insist on independent
third-party monitoring of their projects, and impose meaningful penalties
for violations."
Research on Saadiyat Island did show that authorities have taken some
positive steps. Although workers' accommodations were still under
construction when Human Rights Watch visited the island, they appeared to be
relatively hygienic and not overcrowded. TDIC, the government-owned company
overseeing the island's development, has sought contractual guarantees from
construction companies that they will not confiscate workers' passports, use
forced labor, or commit other abuses.
Human Rights Watch contacted the construction companies, architectural
firms, and international institutions working on the island to alert them to
the need to take steps to ensure workers on their projects are not abused.
Many did not reply to our letters. Among the Guggenheim, New York
University, and the French Museum Agency (responsible for the Louvre Abu
Dhabi project), only the Agency has taken any steps to seek meaningful
contractual guarantees from TDIC to allow independent monitoring of workers'
rights, but even the Agency's contract lacks guarantees or provisions
allowing it to enforce workers' rights.
- 16.
-
New Lok Sabha: Women Members Cross 10% Mark For First Time In India'
Posted by: "ICYOIndia icyoindia@gmail.com" ICYOIndia icyoindia@gmail.com msgiri_bebl
Tue May 19, 2009 10:55 am (PDT)
POSTED BY: ICYOIndia icyoindia@gmail. com
Subject: New Lok Sabha: Women Members Cross 10% Mark For First Time In
India's History
ICYO* – *Youth Information *Newsletter*
*Indian Committee of Youth Organizations* **
*Platform of 356 Youth Organizations in India*
*India's largest network of urban and rural youth*
No. 2009/17
*New Lok Sabha has younger MPs*
*Women Members Cross 10% Mark For First Time In India's History*
* *
With 79 MPs under 40 years of age and 36 members who are at least 70 years
old, the 15th Lok Sabha is a fine blend of youth and experience. Although
the new Lok Sabha has a higher number of under-40 members compared with the
last, the average age of the House is higher — at 53.03 years, this is the
third oldest House so far.
The 13th LS was the oldest House with the average age of members being 55.5
years. By comparison, in the last LS it was 52.7 years. With members
averaging just 46.5 years in age, the first LS was among the youngest. The
average age has since been increasing generally, though this trend is far
from uniform. For instance, the 12th Lok Sabha was the youngest House so
far, with an average of just 46.42 years.
Data also shows no direct correlation between age and the number of fresh
members in the House because a majority of first-time MPs typically have had
legislative experience at state assemblies or the RS. And, contrary to the
notion that our netas are particularly old, the average age in other
parliaments of the world is about the same as in India. MPs in the current
House of Commons in the UK were 50.6 years when elected in 2005, while
Japanese MPs were 52.3 years old when elected.
Ram Sundar Das (88), the giantkilling JD(U) MP from Hajipur who defeated Ram
Vilas Paswan, is the oldest member of the House while *26-year-old Muhammed
Hamdulla Sayeed, the Congress MP from Lakshadweep, is the youngest. *
* *
Although the women's reservation Bill proposing 33% reservation for women in
Parliament was not passed despite repeated attempts to table it, the new Lok
Sabha has the highest number of women MPs ever elected in to the Lok Sabha.
At 58, the 15th Lok Sabha has 13 more women MPs than the last House and nine
more than the previous best of 49 in the 13 Lok Sabha.
The representation of women members has crossed the 10% mark for the first
time in Indian history. However, this is still low in comparison with
parliaments of the industrialized countries. For i nstance, UK, USA, Italy,
Ireland and France have 19.3%, 16.3%, 16.1%, 14.2% and 13.9% women
parliamentarians, respectively. The Sweden parliament, with 47% women MPs,
has the best gender ratio in the world.
In terms of age and gender representation, the reserved category MPs have
better averages than their general counterparts. There are 12.2% women MPs
elected from reserved seats while only 10.2% of the general MPs are women.
Similarly, the average age of the reserved category MPs is 51.8 years which
is again lower than the general MPs whose ages averaged at 53.5 years.
- 17.
-
Concluding Observations: Committee Against Torture, 42nd session
Posted by: "Tbru OHCHR tbru@ohchr.org" Tbru OHCHR tbru@ohchr.org msgiri_bebl
Tue May 19, 2009 10:56 am (PDT)
POSTED BY: Tbru OHCHR tbru@ohchr.org
Subject: Concluding Observations: Committee Against Torture, 42nd session
We are pleased to provide you herewith the Concluding Observations adopted
by the Committee Against Torture at its recently concluded 42nd session
through the listserve administered by the Human RightsTreaties Branch,
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Please, do not reply to
this message.
For your information, the Concluding Observations are provided in the
original language of adoption and unedited version, with translations into
additional languages to be found in due course on the Treaty Body Database
of the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
(http://www.ohchr. org).
Kind Regards
Human Rights Treaty Branch
http://www2- dev.in.ohchr. org/tbru/ cat/CAT-C- CHL-CO-5-(s).pdf
http://www2- dev.in.ohchr. org/tbru/ cat/CAT-C- HND-CO-1-(s).pdf
http://www2- dev.in.ohchr. org/tbru/ cat/CAT-C- ISR-CO-4(e).pdf
http://www2- dev.in.ohchr. org/tbru/ cat/CAT-C- NIC-CO-1(s).pdf
http://www2- dev.in.ohchr. org/tbru/ cat/CAT-C- NZL-CO-5(e).pdf
http://www2- dev.in.ohchr. org/tbru/ cat/CAT-C- PHL-CO-2(e).pdf
http://www2- dev.in.ohchr. org/tbru/ cat/CAT-C- TCD-CO-1(f).pdf
- 18.
-
Supreme Court ask husbands to do whatever wifes says.....
Posted by: "forum_humanrights" forum_humanrights@yahoo.co.in forum_humanrights
Tue May 19, 2009 10:57 am (PDT)
Husbands no more can dictatet terms to their better half. If they wish to gain peace at home, they have no way but to do whatever their wife asked them to do.
This is not some piece of advice from a marriage counsellor or a feminists advise. Rather it is from the country's apex court.
A vacation bench of justices Markandeya Katju and Deepak Verma observed, "Bibi joh boltee hai woh sunno (listen to whatever your wife says), as otherwise it could land you in trouble. Because if you do not listen to her, you will suffer the consequences. "
"Hum sab bhogi hai (we are all sufferers)," the bench said in a lighter vein.
The bench further said that a husband has to accept the suggestion of a wife irrespective of the fact whether it is sensible or not.
"If your wife asks you to put your face that side, put it that side. If she says, put it this side, then put it this side. Otherwise you will face trouble. Hum sub bhogi hai," the bench remarked again.(EOM)
- 19.
-
69% women face harassment at work: Study
Posted by: "ICYOIndia icyoindia@gmail.com" ICYOIndia icyoindia@gmail.com msgiri_bebl
Tue May 19, 2009 10:59 am (PDT)
POSTED BY: ICYOIndia icyoindia@gmail. com
Subject: 69% women face harassment at work: Study
Campaign against
*Sexual Abuse of Children and Youth*
*ICYO-Youth Information* - ICYO to End CSEC
*(*To raise the voice against Sexual Abuse, Sexual Exploitation of Children
and Youth and Human Trafficking for sexual purpose)
*
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -
*
*69% women face harassment at work: Study*
CHANDIGARH: It can be a look that leaves you a bit uneasy or an explicit
demand for sexual favour. Whatever the form, sexual harassment at workplace
is rampant in the city, states a study conducted by Dr Reena Chaudhary, a
research scholar with Panjab University's department of sociology.
Titled 'Harassment of women at workplace', the study has the shocking
findings of 69% respondents claiming to be harassed by superiors. While 200
women employed in the private sector formed part of the sample, none
reported the matter to police, apparently due to fear of losing their jobs.
Putting all talk of women empowerment to shame, the study found women who
were* young, educated, married and worked as receptionists, clerks, call
centre employees, actors, nurses and construction workers had faced the
worst kind of torment at the hands of those holding higher positions.*
The perpetrators were married and elderly men, all above the age of 45.
Respondents claimed these men had harassed them without any apparent fear of
punishment or castigation.
Dr Chaudhary said, "Some 138 admitted being harassed by superiors at the
workplace. Of those, while 26 ignored the issue, 30 reported the matter to
their husbands or family and 44 shared their traumatic experience with close
friends and office colleagues. Only 38 harassed women approached their
management. Worryingly, none of them even thought of complaining to police."
The commonest forms of exploitation were attempts to make physical contact,
direct request for sexual favours and verbal harassment.
Of 38 women who sought help from top bosses or management, eight to 10 had
to bear the consequences of heightened harassment. "One of them, a teacher,
was even suspended from school. She then moved HC, which finally got her
justice in form of employment and other benefits," added Chaudhary. Social
stigma and getting the pink slip were most cited reasons to stay mum.
"Though the problem has been documented as a widespread and damaging
phenomenon, it continues to occur across a wide range of occupations. Sexual
harassment at workplace is being recognized as an occupational hazard and a
violation of human rights.
It is not so much about social and economic factors, but about perception of
male and female sexuality in society," she said. Apart from other measures,
the study suggests special cells headed by women coordinators to check this
problem. (Times of India 7/5/09) (HRNews)
- 20.
-
[women-rights] Nicaragua: Call for review on complete ban on abortio
Posted by: "HREA noreply@hrea.org" HREA noreply@hrea.org msgiri_bebl
Tue May 19, 2009 11:03 am (PDT)
POSTED BY: HREA noreply@hrea. org
Subject: [women-rights] Nicaragua: Call for review on complete ban on
abortion
Amnesty International Press release
15 May 2009
Amnesty International today urged the Nicaraguan authorities to act upon the
UN Committee against Torture call for Nicaragua to review its complete ban
on abortion with a view to including exceptions to the total prohibition.
After reviewing the situation in Nicaragua against the obligations of the
state under the Convention against
Torture<http://www.hrea. org/index. php?base_ id=104&language_ id=1&erc_ doc_id=959& category_ id=38&category_ type=3&group=>,
the UN Committee concluded that the State Party should revise its legal
framework in relation to abortion. The expert Committee observed that the
complete ban gave them cause for profound concern, as it exposes women and
girls to a constant threat of serious violations to their rights,
particularly if continuation of the pregnancy posed a threat to their life,
or for victims of rape.
"The Committee is sending a clear message to the Nicaraguan state: So long
as the complete ban with no exceptions is in place, you will be in breach of
your international legal obligations to protect human rights," said Widney
Brown, Senior Director, International Law and Policy at Amnesty
International. "If this complete ban were to stay, women and girls would
continue to be at risk of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
Such inaction would show a cruel indifference to the physical pain,
psychological anguish and lack of human dignity this law causes women and
girls in Nicaragua to suffer by denying and thwarting their access to
essential medical treatment during pregnancy."
The criminal law imposes prison terms for doctors and women or girls for
carrying out or seeking an abortion, regardless of the circumstances, such
as if the life or health of the pregnant woman is at risk from continuation
of the pregnancy.
"As noted by the Committee, the moment when doctors need to make vital
decisions they are forced to violate their professional ethics, ignore best
practice and protocols, placing the life and health of the patient at risk,"
said Widney Brown. "Furthermore, rape victims who become pregnant as a
result of the crime in Nicaragua are faced with an unconscionable choice:
either continue the pregnancy to full term, regardless of the risks to her
life, health or well-being or seek an unsafe backstreet abortion risking her
life, health and possibly imprisonment. In a country where there are high
rates of sexual abuse and at least 50% of rape victims are girls aged 18 or
under, this is a particularly appalling situation."
The complete ban has a chilling effect on the ability of doctors to respond
quickly and decisively to women and girls suffering from complications
during their pregnancy. The law denies pregnant women necessary medical care
which in some cases would be life saving.
The UN Committee against Torture is the fourth UN treaty body to demand that
the Nicaraguan government repeal the complete ban on abortion in all
circumstances because this ban violates the rights of women and girls. The
UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights and the UN Committee on the Elimination of All forms of
Discrimination Against Women have already highlighted to the Government of
Nicaragua that this law breaches Nicaragua's international legal obligations
and places the lives and health of women and girls in jeopardy.
Amnesty International considers that the full ban on abortion in Nicaragua –
including in cases where a woman's health or life would be at risk if the
pregnancy continues or where that pregnancy is a result of rape – is a
violation of women's and girls' human rights, including the right not be
subject to torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
The organization is calling on the Nicaraguan authorities to repeal the full
ban on abortions and ensure doctors are not prohibited from providing
medically indicated treatment to women and girls in need.
*Background information
*
Where women's access to safe and legal abortion services and information is
restricted, their fundamental human rights may be at grave risk. Amnesty
International therefore calls on states to do the following to prevent and
end grave abuses of women's human rights in accordance with state
obligations under international human rights standards: (a) repeal all laws
which permit the imprisonment or imposition of any other criminal sanction
on women for seeking or having an abortion and all other laws which provide
for imprisonment or other criminal penalties solely for those providing
information about or carrying out abortions; (b) provide access to medical
services for complications arising from abortion to all women in need in any
circumstance, regardless of the legal status of abortion; (c) take all
necessary measures to ensure that safe and legal abortion services are
available, accessible, acceptable and of good quality for all women who
require them in cases of unwanted pregnancy as a result of rape, sexual
assault or incest and pregnancy which poses a risk to the life or grave risk
to the health of the woman. Amnesty International does not take a position
on any other aspects of abortion.
The UN Committee against Torture is the expert body established by the UN
Convention against Torture to monitor countries' compliance with that
treaty. It is composed of 10 independent, impartial members who are elected
by the states parties to the treaty. Governments must submit periodic
reports to the Committee which in turn make recommendations to further the
State party's implementation of the treaty.
Amnesty International briefed the Committee against Torture on the denial of
access to essential medical services through legislation that imposes an
absolute ban on the provision of abortion services and the criminalisation
of abortion in Nicaragua. In addition, the organization attended the hearing
in Geneva on 31 April and 1 May. Amnesty International also provided
information to the Committee against Torture at this session regarding
implementation of the Torture Convention by Israel.
For a copy of Amnesty Internationals submission to the Committee against
Torture please see:
http://www.amnesty. org/en/library/ info/AMR43/ 005/2009/ en
- 21.
-
[child-rights] South Africa: Child Justice Bill signed into law
Posted by: "HREA noreply@hrea.org" HREA noreply@hrea.org msgiri_bebl
Tue May 19, 2009 11:04 am (PDT)
POSTED BY: HREA noreply@hrea. org
Subject: [child-rights] South Africa: Child Justice Bill signed into law
Pretoria, 18 May 2009 - UNICEF today welcomed the signing into law of the
Child Justice Bill by the President of the Republic for South Africa,
hailing it as a major step in strengthening the administration of justice
for South Africa's children.
The new Act establishes a criminal justice system for children who are in
conflict with the law or are accused of offenses.
"This Act is of critical importance to the 100,000 children in South Africa
who are arrested each year, and also to the communities in which they live,"
said Aida Girma, UNICEF South Africa Representative.
"It will ensure that children's basic constitutional rights and best
interests are upheld when in conflict with the law, and is mindful of the
circumstances and vulnerabilities that lead children to commit offences,"
said Aida Girma, UNICEF South Africa Representative. "At the same time, it
holds child offenders accountable for their actions and aims to prevent them
from committing further offences. UNICEF believes this will contribute to
safer communities, and encourage these children to become law-abiding and
productive adults."
A central feature of the new Act is the possibility of diverting matters
involving children away from the criminal justice system. In addition to
being cost-effective, international experience suggests that diversion can
prevent stigmatization and lead to good outcomes for children and public
safety.
Forms of diversion include victim-offender mediation, family group
conferencing, referral to an NGO or other community or social programme,
including substance abuse programmes, family reunification, community
service, police warnings, behaviour contracts and conditional or
unconditional release. With the exception of the most serious offences, all
children who acknowledge responsibility for their acts may be considered for
these options.
The Act also entrenches the notion of restorative justice as a sentencing
option for those children who do go through Children's Court proceedings.
Restorative justice is an approach to justice that aims to involve the child
offender, the victim, the families concerned and community members to
collectively identify and address harms, needs and obligations through
accepting responsibility, making restitution, taking measures to prevent a
recurrence of the incident and promoting reconciliation. Restorative justice
options have proven to be more effective that "retributive" approaches,
which are concerned purely with punishing the offender and concentrate more
on the crime itself than on the people involved.
Raising the minimum age of child offenders from age seven to age 10
The Act also raises the minimum age at which a child is considered to have
"criminal capacity" from seven to 10 years of age. Children under 10 years
do not have criminal capacity and therefore cannot be arrested or
prosecuted; instead they must be automatically referred to the care and
protection system if they commit an offense.
Children older than 10 years old, but younger than 14, can be arrested and
prosecuted only if it is proven that they had the capacity to appreciate
right from wrong at the time the act was committed.
In partnership with the Department of Social Development and the National
Prosecuting Authority, UNICEF has already begun work to prepare for the
implementation of the Act. It is currently preparing Guidelines for
probation service providers who are responsible for assessment of children
accused of offences, for identifying and monitoring diversion and
restorative justice options, and for providing programmes for children in
secure care facilities. These will be rolled out nationwide through a
training of trainers programme.
UNICEF Press release
- 22.
-
Fw: Can Times of India justify that Indian Balck Money deposited in
Posted by: "Milap Choraria" milap_choraria@yahoo.com milap_choraria
Tue May 19, 2009 11:05 am (PDT)
--- On Tue, 5/19/09, milap_choraria@ yahoo.com <milap_choraria@ yahoo.com> wrote:
From: milap_choraria@ yahoo.com <milap_choraria@ yahoo.com>
Subject: Can Times of India justify that Indian Balck Money deposited in Swiss Banks are just a subject matter of Tax EVasion?
To: "Her Excellency President of India Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil" <presidentofindia@ rb.nic.in>, presidentofindia@ nic.in, "Vice-President of IndiaShri Mohammad Hamid Ansari" <vpindia@nic. in>, "Hon'ble Prime Miister of India Dr. Man Mohan Singh" <pmosb@pmo.nic. in>, manmohan@sansad. nic.in, "Hon’ble Chief Justice of India Mr K G Balakrishanan" <supremecourt@ nic.in>, feedback@eci. gov.in, speakerloksabha@ sansad.nic. in, "Home Minister of India Shri P. Chidambaram" <chidambaram@ sansad.nic. in>, "Law Minister of India Shri Hansraj Bhardwaj" <hansrajb@sansad. nic.in>, "Swami Ramdev Ji" <divyayoga@rediffmai l.com>, advanilk@sansad. nic.in, rajnath@sansad. nic.in, jaswant@sansad. nic.in, brinda.k@sansad. nic.in, gandhim@sansad. nic.in, "Chief Minister of GujratShri Narendra Modi" <cm@gujaratindia. com>, Mail@Narendramodi. org, "Advisor to Hon. GCMShri S.K. Shelat" <advtocm@gujarat. gov.in>, "Advisor to Hon. GCMShri B.N. Navalawala" <advtocm2@gujarat. gov.in>, "Smt. Sonia
Gandhi" <10janpath@vsnl. net>, soniagandhi@ sansad.nic. in, aicc@congress. org.in, "Jairam Ramesh" <jairam@congress. org.in>, bjpco@bjp.org, info@spmumbai. org, jmishra@sansad. nic.in, thedmk@vsnl. com, shivsenabhavan@ shivsena. org, shivalaya@shivsena. org, response@saamana. com, rjdal@rediffmail. com, mail@ncp.org. in, marxistindia@ cpim.org, cc@cpim.org, info@trinamoolcongr ess.com, pasangma@sansad. nic.in, drvrajeshwaran@ rediffmail. com, yogi@bom3.vsnl. net.in, biswasd.aifb@ yahoo.co. in, biswasd@sansad. nic.in, intuchq@del3. vsnl.net. in, mail@cpiml.org, jaishriram@vsnl. in, marathikatta@ gmail.com, ajaitley@del5. vsnl.net. in, swaraj@sansad. nic.in, ravis@sansad. nic.in, vkmalhotra_bjp@ yahoo.co. in, bjpkerala@gmail. com, webmaster@telugudes am.org, cabinetsy@nic. in, kcsekhar@ias. nic.in, jscpg-mha@nic. in, "Serious Fraud Investigation Office" <sfio@nic.in>, rev_pers@finance. delhi.nic. in, jsrev@nic.in, chairman@incometaxi ndia.gov. in, member.rev@incometa xindia.gov. in,
member.per@incometa xindia.gov. in, member.it@incometax india.gov. in, member.aj@incometax india.gov. in, member.leg@incometa xindia.gov. in, member.inv@incometa xindia.gov. in, "Share Market Ombudsman" <sebi@sebi.gov. in>, ashwinikumar001@ gmail.com, "the Commissioner of Delhi PoliceShri Y. S. Dadwal" <ys.dadwal@nic. in>, Himanshi.Dhawan@ timesgroup. com, "vishwa. mohan" <Vishwa.Mohan@ timesgroup. com>, "The Editor Times of India" <toieditorial@ timesgroup. com>, "Help Ministry of Law & Justice" <cpio-la@nic. in>, "Chairperson NHRC" <chairnhrc@nic. in>, "The Statesman Calcutta" <calaaa12@giascl01. vsnl.net. in>, "The Statesman" <thestatesman@ vsnl.com>, "Editor The Telegraph" <ttedit@abpmail. com>, rti-times@lists. riseup.net
Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2009, 6:10 AM
Â
I was surprised to see that Times of India, was not very much interested to publish Indian views connected with the Indian Black Money deposited in Switzerland, but for the reasons best known to it, advocated in favour of Swiss Authorities, by publishing a News Report, under heading 'Swiss banks cannot act as any country's tax inspector' on 17 May 2009, which was prepared by TNN Reporter Mr. Sachin Parashar. I am raising the issue of Indian Black Money in Swiss Banks, since long time. In respect to my hue and cry news was also published by the Economic Times in eighties under heading “Shareholder’s Right�, prepared by (Late) Mr. Samarjeet Ghosh, from Pune, who was victimized and transferred from Kolkata to Pune, for publishing my Interviews, by the Times of India Group of Newspapers under the Large Amount of the Advertisements from one Monopoly House.
Â
In 2005, I make study on the basis of the documents available in websites of Swiss Authorities, and mentioned in my Online Petition addressed to Mr. Kofi A. Annan, the then Secretary General of UNO, to justify that black money deposited in Swiss Banks are just not the subject matter of Tax-Evasion, rather very serious matter concerned to Corruptions, Terrorism and organised crimes, and causing severe damages to developments of victim countries in clear violation of the basic objectives and principles described in U N Charter for international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all and seriously infringing the fundamental rights of the citizen of other countries by seriously affecting the economical growths, thus I wanted that SECURITY COUNCIL SHOULD IMPOSE SANCTION AGAINST SWISS GOVERNMENT FOR
BANKING SECRECY WHICH PROVIDING OPEN PROTECTIONS TO ILLEGAL MONEY OF TERRORISTS, CORRUPT POLITICIANS ETC., FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, CAUSING SEVERE THREATS TO ITS LEGITIMATE DEVELOPMENTS and posted at: http://www.petition online.com/ milap/petition. html  Â
Â
I also mentioned in the aforesaid Online Petition uploaded in June, 2005, based on available figures in the first quarter of 2005, from the Websites of the Swiss Authorities “Investment from foreign customers in Asset Management accounted for a share of approximately 57% of all assets held, 42.1% came from private clients and 47.5% from institutional investors. Commercial clients accounted for the remaining 10.4%.� Swiss Authorities admitted that: “Swiss financial sector manages roughly a third of all worldwide financial assets invested abroad. It consequently holds a leading global position in the rapidly growing asset management sector. Assets in customer accounts managed by Swiss banks as of end of 2001 amounted to CHF 3,320 billion.� Switzerland also has the world's 5th largest bond market and accounts for more than 1/4 of all the money flowing into the global hedge fund industry. Such 57% which arising to CHF 1,881 billion in Foreign Asset
Management is invested by the foreign clients certainly from developing countries. Reportedly rest 43% is also not from the Swiss Citizens. Its important part accounted from admitted unclaimed assets in the Swiss Financial sector belongs to Corrupt Politicians, bureaucrats and unscrupulous businessmen from developing countries. Â Â Â Â Â
Â
Even as per the then roaming report a file is exists in India’s Central Vigilance Commission, (certainly they will not admit the same), which I also mentioned in my aforesaid online Petition, and indicating that amount between about Rs16,00,00,00, 00,00,000 and Rs.50,00,00, 00,00,00, 000 (16 and 50 Lakhs of Crores of Rupees) ($US 800 Billions Dollars or so) of the Black money from India are deposited in Swiss and other foreign Banks by the Corrupt Politicians, Bureaucrats and unscrupulous Businessmen. Since, control of the Government is not free from embracement from the Powerful Corrupt Politicians, whose money might be in Swiss Banks, as a result, Government of India is not initiating the matter in appropriate manner.
Â
Therefore, by publishing following News Item, under heading 'Swiss banks cannot act as any country's tax inspector' 16 May 2009, 0339 hrs IST, Sachin Parashar, TNN, the Times of India not performed its duty as Member of Fourth Estate of INdian Democracy:-
Â
NEW DELHI: As India awaits the poll results with bated breath, the controversy over black money stashed away abroad was further stoked by the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) whose spokesperson told TOI on Friday that Swiss banks cannot work as any country's tax inspector and that the association has requested the Swiss authorities to examine each request carefully to make sure a real crime is involved before agreeing upon revealing a client's identity or assets.
The spokesperson also rubbished reports that it had ever issued a report on black money deposited in Swiss banks by Indians which he said was being passed around like the Gospel truth.
Unlike in India , tax evasion is not looked upon as a crime by Swiss banks. The SBA spokesperson, James Nason, while replying to a query from this paper, said that taxes are the personal responsibility of citizens and not banks. "If they suspect an existing client is using his account for criminal purposes the banks are obliged by law to freeze the account and make a report to the authorities. However, it is not the job of Swiss banks to play the role of a foreign country's tax inspector and find out whether that person has paid all his taxes,'' said Nason, even as he refrained from making any comment on Pune resident Hassan Ali Khan who is alleged to have deposited $8 billion in secret accounts and whose case has been taken up by Indian authorities with their Swiss counterparts.
The right to privacy, he said, in Switzerland can be suspended by a judge when a criminal investigation is underway and that the Swiss authorities can order and authorise a Swiss bank to deliver the relevant account information.
Nason also scoffed at the figures being quoted by political parties in India on the black money allegedly lying in Swiss banks saying that these were meant only for the election campaign. The BJP has suggested that the actual amount could be as high as $1.4 trillion. "At best, these are speculation, and at worst pure fantasy. No one ever gives a source for these figures, neither does anyone explain the methodology used to arrive at them and I strongly suspect they have been contrived to serve the purposes of an election campaign,'' said Nason, as he wondered if there is not a single penny of Indian "black" money in London, New York, Hong Kong or Singapore.
"Swiss banks have no interest at all in attracting dirty money and well-established procedures exist to identify, freeze and report funds of possible criminal origin and also to give international legal assistance to foreign countries investigating crimes,'' he added.
Â
"We have noticed, however, that in some countries, and, of course, India is not one of them, where justice is a commodity purchased by the kilo like potatoes and the system of international judicial assistance in criminal matters has been abused to frame, damage or destroy political or commercial rivals. We have thus urged the Swiss authorities to examine each request carefully to make sure a real crime is involved,'' he said.
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TRUTH SHALL ALWAYS PREVAIL
Milap Choraria Editor: Suchna Ka Adhikar / RTI TIMES
National Convenor : Movement for Accountability to Public (MAP)
http://milapchorari a.tripod. com/msp http://rtitimes. net
- 23.
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Iraq: Detained Al-Qaeda leader 'funded by Arab states'
Posted by: "marco.pertoni@libero.it" marco.pertoni@libero.it sitrep_comalp
Tue May 19, 2009 11:05 am (PDT)
Iraq: Detained Al-Qaeda leader 'funded by Arab states'
Baghdad, 18 May (AKI) - Al-Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq relies on funding from Syria, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, according to confessions allegedly made by its reputed leader, Omar al-Baghdadi following his arrest last month, the Iraqi military said on Monday.
"Confessions made by Ahmed Abid Khameess al-Majmaee, known as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, are part of Iraqi judiciary's investigations, " General Qassim Atta told journalists at a media conference in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
"I worked as a civil servant for al-Karama Company of the dissolved military industries commission," al-Baghdadi said in a videotape that was shown during the conference.
"In 2005, I started working for Al-Qaeda in Iraq organisation (AQI)," he said.
"After that I was chosen to be the emir of the organisation, and I was called Abu Omar al-Baghdadi al-Husseini, " he added.
"I was called al-Baghdadi to satisfy Sunnis, and al-Husseini to satisfy the rest of Iraq," he explained.
External funding came from some associations based in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria as well as some people who bring money to Iraq, he claimed.
Some funding also came from salaries embezzled from Iraqi employees, he stated.
"There are also internal sources derived from theft, or stolen from the salaries of employees," he said.
The Islamic State of Iraq, formed in October 2006, consists of seven armed groups, including the AQI, all of which were commanded by al-Baghdadi.
He claimed he received instructions from a handler in Iraq, the Voice of Iraq news agency reported.
The AQI, the Islamic State of Iraq and the dissolved Baath Party, "all have the same funding sources and conduct combined operations," al-Baghdadi said.
At the height of the sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007, Al-Qaeda and other Sunni militant groups killed thousands of Iraqi civilians when they bombed markets and mosques crowded with Shia Muslims.
http://www.adnkrono s.com/AKI/ English/Security /?id=3.0. 3327987471
- 24.
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CHINA Migrant worker blows himself up because he was not paid
Posted by: "marco.pertoni@libero.it" marco.pertoni@libero.it sitrep_comalp
Tue May 19, 2009 11:05 am (PDT)
04/03/2009 14:58
CHINA
Migrant worker blows himself up because he was not paid
Han, 42, worked in 2007 but said he had not received 4,500 yuan (450 euros). The company denies the debt. Labor rights have little protection in China, and workers often take to the streets to protest or perform extreme actions.
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) - In Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, a migrant worker has blown himself up because his boss did not pay him. In the China of the economic miracle, workers have little protection, and injustices often lead to protests, some of them serious.
Yesterday afternoon, Han Wushun, a 42-year-old ethnic Chinese migrant worker from Sichuan, asked his bosses at Xinjiang Beixin Road and Bridge Construction Company for back pay of 4,500 yuan (about 450 euros). When he found out that he would not receive this, he blew himself up with a homemade bomb he was carrying in his backpack. The explosion killed him and injured the two managers, who were trying to get away.
Han had worked for the company in 2007, for three months. He sued for the back pay in 2008, but last July the court rejected his request.
Company sources say that he received what was due to him.
In the country, it is not unusual for companies to fail to pay their workers, and the phenomenon has increased because of the current economic crisis: according to official data, in Shenzhen alone in 2008, about 370 companies did not pay 102 million yuan in wages to 39,200 workers. The problem is so bad that in this city, the municipal office for social security and labor has put under observation all of the companies that are in trouble and have not paid salaries for at least a month.
The phenomenon is so widespread that in recent years, the government has preferred to reimburse back pay of hundreds of millions of yuan, in order to prevent unrest. In 2008, official sources admitted that at least 87,000 mass protests took place for economic reasons, often connected to injustices suffered by workers.
Recent official data are not available. At the end of 2006, 1.63 billion yuan in back pay was said to be owed to about 800,000 migrants in Beijing, 1.84 billion to more than one million migrants in Guangdong alone, and 130 million to 130,000 migrants in Gansu. The numbers are high if one considers that at the time, the monthly salary was 1,000 yuan. Those who do not receive their salaries face long and costly civil suits, with the risk that in the meantime the employer could drop out of sight: for this reason, most migrants are ultimately willing to settle for a portion of what they are owed. Protection for migrants is also difficult because less than two thirds of them sign a regular contract, according to a study by the ministry for labor and social security. During the Asian financial crisis at the end of the 1990's, there were many suicides by unemployed workers.
http://www.asianews .it/index. php?l=en& art=14906& size=A
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