Bangl@news

Weekly Newsletter on Bangladesh, Missions and Human Rights  

Year XII

Nr. 504 

Jan 18, 12

This issue is sent to 550 readers and to 6.780 ones in the Italian version

 

    

Summary

        

World

»»  Will rising tensions with Tehran lead to war? by Paul Dakiki

»»  Every year 22 000 working children die and many other fall ill or suffer serious accidents

»»  New Year of global protest by David D'Amato

Africa

»»  Should Africa be an allied of the West or China?  

»»  War Crimes Court Should Strengthen Victims' Participation  

Asia

»»  The Year that Was

Latin America

»»  No time left to adapt to melting glaciers by Stephen Leahy

Argentina

»»  Investigation on  Human Rights Crimes of Spain's Franco Era by Marcela Valente

Bangladesh

»»  Primary terminal examination results

»»  Rural students cut sorry figure by Mushfique Wadud

»»  88.71pc passes JDC exams

»»  JSC results cause for satisfaction

»»  Church ordains Paharia priest

»»  Death penalty for terrorism by Hasan Jahid Tusher

»»  Govt pry schools in dire straits by Mushfique Wadud

»»  Holiday meeting boosts dialogue by Manik Willver D’Costa

»»  Immediate action needed to accommodate children with disabilities

»»  A hostel for young tribal Buddhists and Christians, for the development of Bdesh by Nozrul Islam  

»»  100 years jubilee of Bolakipur by fr. Anselmo Mardy

»»  Bangladesh at 40 - Part 4

China

»»  Two  bishop martyrs recognised as 'Illustrious Unknown' for 2011 by Bernardo Cervellera

Egypt

»»  The Copts fear the "protection" of the army, which turns on NGOs

»»  One year after the massacre of Christians in Alexandria, Egypt seeks a way forward by André Azzam

India

»»  Indian anti-graft campaigner calls off fast

»»  Save the Indian 'anganwadi' by Rakesh Kumar

»»  The modern Herod who kills children and violates religious freedom by Nirmala Carvalho

Iraq

»»  Next year, Christmas will be a civic holiday in Kirkuk by Joseph Mahmoud

Malaysia

»»  Migrant labor rights are human rights

Middle East

»»  Exercising the Right to Torture by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours

»»  Christians and Muslims a year since the start of the Arab spring by Samir Khalil Samir

Nepal

»»  Nepal's melting glaciers pose flood risk by Jonathan Amos

Nigeria

»»  After Christmas attacks, appeals to sustain dialogue

»»  "Terrorism threatens us all, Muslims and Christians,... 

North Korea

»»  Power Transition: Rising Instability Or Regime Resilience? By Lee Dongmin  

Philippines

»»  Bishops blame government for flooding

»»  Fr. Fausto Tentorio's alleged assassin arrested

»»  Mindanao: outpouring of solidarity for flood victims

Somalia

»»  A difficult year

»»  Ethiopia army 'captures Somali town'

Sudan

»»  Cross air raids and accusations, no peace between two Sudans

Syria

»»  Arab League Observers in Damascus. New bloodshed in Homs

»»  Skepticism and early criticism of Arab League observation mission

Vietnam

»»  New phase of the national campaign against child malnutrition

»»  Ethnic community gets Christmas rites

Other articles italian edition

Missione: Libertŕ religiosa: 26 i missionari martiri nel mondo  Mondialitŕ: Primavera araba, pericolo n. 1 per i media * La fame non puň attendere. Ci vuole un cambio di rotta di Jose' di Graziano Da Silva  America Latina: Land grab e Falklands, orgoglio "latino" di Alessandro Armato  Algeria: Cartoline dall'Algeria - 68 di p. Silvano Zoccarato  Bangladesh: Nuovi arrivi a Dhanjuri di p.Adolfo L'Imperio * Lettera di d. Renato Rosso agli amici * Tutte le feste le porta via... di p. Quirico Martinelli  Brasile: Amazzonia, attivisti contro la mega-diga di Alessandro Armato * Brasile diventa sesta economia mondiale  Guinea-Bissau: Tentato golpe, per Unione africana urge riforma esercito  Italia: Disarmo vuol dire futuro * Ma chi sono i "terun" del Nord? di Francesco Anfossi * "Noi venditori di rose, schiavi bambini" di Enrico Bellavia e Lorenzo Tondo  Medio Oriente: Risorse e case per israeliani, avvisi di demolizione per palestinesi  Messico: Caccia grossa agli "irregolari" di Lucia Capuzzi  Nepal: Natale in Nepal: chiese mai cosi affollate, non solo da cristiani  Sudan: Khartoum, rapimenti pianificati di Gianni Ballarini

     

The views expressed in these articles are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Banglanews' editorial policy

Web Sites: Bangladesh   Asianomads   Congo   Congo blog  Pamoia na KakaLuigi  Ladymercyindia

Agencies: Asianews   Misna   Fides     old issues: archive   archivio     email: bernig@fastwebnet.it   brguiz@yahoo.it

       

           

      

WORLD

Will rising tensions with Tehran lead to war? by Paul Dakiki  

AsiaNews - Beirut - December 29, 2011

Iran threatens to shut the Strait of Hormuz, where 40 per cent of the world's tanker-borne oil transits. The United States and the European Union ponder whether to tighten sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. Some US senators and scholars urge Washington to attack. Questions are raised whether Italian aid is for Syrian refugees or Syrian rebels.

   

Tensions between Tehran and the rest of the world are rising every day, so much so that some analysts believe a war is inevitable next year. The latest episode in this confrontation is the exchange of threats between Iran and the United States and the European Union over the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned on Tuesday "not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz" if the West broadened sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

Admiral Habibollah Sayari, commander of the Iranian Navy, said on Wednesday, "Shutting the strait for Iran's armed forces is really easy-or as we say in Iran, easier than drinking a glass of water."

The Strait of Hormuz is a strategically important for world trade, linking the Gulf and its petroleum-exporting states to the Indian Ocean. About 40 per cent of the world's tanker-borne oil passes through it; that is approximately 15.5m barrels of oil and 2m barrels of oil products each day,

For this reason, the Pentagon yesterday said, "Interference with the transit or passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz will not be tolerated."

Bahrain-based U.S. Navy 5th Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Rebecca Rebarich explained that the Navy "maintains a robust presence in the region" and will protect the region's "vital links to the international community."

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero yesterday said that the Strait of Hormuz was an international strait and "therefore all ships, no matter what flag they fly, have the right of transit passage."

Tehran's threats appear to be retaliation against fresh Western sanctions following a UN report that said Iran had carried out tests related to "development of a nuclear device".

For many years, the United States and the European Union have accused Iran of developing a military nuclear programme, a charge Tehran rejects, insisting on the peaceful nature of its programme.

Next month, the European Union will determine whether to tighten its sanctions against Iran by following the United States in penalising Iranian oil exports and related financial transactions.

Since Iran relies on crude sales for about 80 per cent of its public revenues, more sanctions would further aggravate the country's already faltering economy.

China and Russia, which are important trading partners for Iran, are opposed to tougher sanctions.

The tightening of sanctions appears to parallel the growing possibility of air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Sources in the Middle East say that US President Barack Obama and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barack discussed this possibility when they met in Washington on 16 December.

Some US senators (like Joseph Lieberman) have called for an attack against Iran next year.

US and NATO policy to isolate Syria is also designed to reduce the impact of possible Iranian reactions in the Middle East.

In the next issue of Foreign Affairs (Jan-Feb 2012), nuclear issues expert Matthew Kroenig wrote, "With the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq winding down and the United States facing economic hardship at home, Americans have little appetite for further strife. Yet Iran's rapid nuclear development will ultimately force the United States to choose between a conventional conflict and a possible nuclear war. Faced with that decision, the United States should conduct a surgical strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, absorb an inevitable round of retaliation, and then seek to quickly de-escalate the crisis. Addressing the threat now will spare the United States from confronting a far more dangerous situation in the future,"

There are also doubts about Italy. On 16 December, an Iranian news agency said that an Italian plane landed in Beirut, ostensibly carrying "humanitarian aid" for Syrian refugees in northern Lebanon. Some believe instead the aid is for Syrian rebels, and ask: Why carry humanitarian aid in a military plane?  

   

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Every year 22 000 working children die and many other fall ill or suffer serious accidents

Agenzia Fides - Madrid - December 28, 2011

      

Of the 215 million working children throughout the world, more than half, 115 million, work in dangerous conditions for their health, safety and emotional and moral development. This is what emerges from the VIII phase of the SCREAM Programme (Protection of Children's Rights through Education, Arts and Mass Media) presented by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for Spain. Every year throughout the world, 22 000 children die because of work, and many others report accidents and diseases, higher compared to adults. Every minute a working child gets injured, suffers injury or psychological trauma connected with work. The program was launched in 2003 with the goal of making students, teachers and citizens conscious about the worst forms of child labor. This year, among other outreach activities in other cultural and creative areas, photographic exhibitions have been organized with pictures concerning the living conditions and child labor abuse in the states of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, where there are children working in the fields, landfills, as domestic servants, construction sites or mines. In 2010, in The Hague, during the World Conference on Child Labour, the need to proceed more quickly towards the elimination, in 2016, of the worst forms of child labor was highlighted. (AP) 

    

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New Year of global protest by David D'Amato

New Age - December 29, 2011  

     

IN 2011, the protester so upset the prevailing order of things that Time magazine named her (or him, as the case may be) its Person of the Year. As I write, protesters in China, Russia and Yemen, to name a handful, are the streets voicing opposition to the kinds of barefaced injustices that feature in human life in every corner of the globe.

In Yemen, Reuters reports, troops loyal to the country's President Ali Abdullah fired on demonstrators on Saturday, killing at least nine. In China, meanwhile, an uprising is under way against land grabs in Guangdong province pursuant to so-called 'liberalisation policies begun in 1979.'

However different the situations in China and Yemen, the demonstrations represent attempts of peaceful society to assert itself against and to repel the aggression of the state - 'the political means'.

The state is fundamentally a way for organised groups of robbers and exploiters to control valuable resources. It has always been thus, but rather than simply acknowledging its own criminality, the state drapes its continuing mission of deprivation and violence in the robes of 'public service'. Giveaways of land, cultivated and therefore owned for generations by, for example, small farmers, are granted the imprimatur of 'free enterprise' and 'liberalisation'. Similarly, turning the military loose on unarmed citizens is defended with the language of social tranquillity and respect for the rule of law.

With the social upheaval and brutality that dominates the news today, the 'law and order' justification for the state has grown ever more untenable, even preposterous. Anarchism is another possibility for the future, one that calls the methodical crime of the state what it is and seeks a more consensual, more human organisation of social affairs.

In 1970, advancing a more scholarly understanding of anarchism, James J Martin argued that there was 'little justification' for the idea of anarchism as 'a doctrine of destruction'. Martin explained that 'a program of pure negation or obstructionism' is no 'more than faintly related' to anarchism, which indeed sets forth in its literature a positive vision for a stateless future.

Individualist or market anarchism, contrary to flimsy caricatures, has never meant advocacy for disorder or for a society without substantive rules for conduct, one pushed into - in Hobbes' words - a war of all against all. It is instead the state that has made war pass for society, a war that pits the privileged few against the productive many.

The protests materialising around the world in this moment are a reaction, consciously or not, to the chaos bred by political authority. If the state is in fact meant to build the conditions of law and order, then we have to wonder why we live in a world covered by states like Yemen and China, ruled by people like Vladimir Putin.

Though depicted as utopians, obsessed with pie in the sky daydreams, or as bomb-throwing provocateurs of pandemonium, anarchists petition simply for a society in which freedom is the guiding principle. Granted, on its own, that doesn't mean much, but without aggression against innocents, the state could not exist.

Without the state, we would still be left with lots of questions, forced to deal with the logistical requirements of abstractions like justice, but we'd be closer - significantly so. And maybe that's enough of a hope for the new year 2012, that we gnaw away even more at the systems of authority that oppress us and defile our communities.  

      

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AFRICA

Should Africa be an allied of the West or China?

Africa News - December 27, 2011  

         

The past 12 months were very intense on the African continent. Some very important elections stirred- up a whole lot of interests. Those interests went far more outside of the African borders for the simple fact that the outcome of each one of those elections defines the new frontiers of the shared zones of influence, which are being renegotiated between the old powers of the world, the Western, and the new power, China.

In quoting the ranking seen in Ukraine, one can freely state that in Cote d'Ivoire, in Zambia or in Liberia, the pro-westerner won the party. In Cameroun or in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is the pro- China who won.

Since the African Independences about 50 years ago, in the logic of the cold war, African countries were all under one of the 2 banners, pro-western or pro-Soviet Union.

With the fall of Berlin wall in 1989 and the consequent end of the cold war era, all Africa became, either by their own willing or by force, pro-western.

The tandem, International Monetary Founds' (IMF) and the World Bank took in fact power in Africa, deciding entirely or partially the economical, financial, social and even the judicial politics of most African countries.

As a result of those 20-30 years of that kind of power in Africa, there is not in existence, a single country that succeeded thanks to their revenues coming straight from Washington DC. This brought about dissidences and rebellions from some countries against the ultraliberal IMF-World Bank, with one particularity: when it fails, only African leaders take the blame.

They are re-baptized for the circumstance "African dictators" in order to divert attention from the real authorship of the failure: the western ultra liberalism.

This tragic comedy continues to this day, since the same recipes are being prescribed to Greece, Portugal and to Italy, recipes which failed in Africa 20 years ago.

These African dissidents looked elsewhere, toward Eastern, toward China. There are not many, because they have to have courage to brave tremendous western pressure, which pressure may well end up in coup-d'états maneuvered through rebels who never explained how and by whom they were financed.

This is the context in which electoral rendezvous are held on the African continent, where the only true social project is to find out if countries will be content with the status quo, with the same old known misery of 50 years in the hand of the West, or will they take a jump into the unknown by choosing China, in the hope of emerging with her, not really knowing where we are all going to land?

Today, I will take, in examination, 2 African countries that made opposite choices, first, the Ivory Coast, who decided to stay like before, under western control and second, the Cameroun, who chose to jump into the unknown with China.

 

-Which one of those 2 countries made the right choice?

To answer this question, I am restraining myself in giving any judgment in the value of either one of those elections. I'm not about to re-create history here. I will only review the events on a purely geostrategic angle.

Cameroun and Cote d'Ivoire are two African countries in which election took place recently. The common point of these two elections is that the two world's giants, China and the West, threw their full support behind their selective choice. In Cote d'Ivoire, we may or may not agree on the methods used, but every modern citizen was able to watch, live, the induction of an African administration by both France and the United States of America.

It is not wrong to assert that the power in place was pro-Western.

In Cameroun, Mr. Biya has been the "darling" of Beijing. The city has become the only official destination for Biya and his ministers' outside of Cameroun's geographical borders, for these past couple of years. At the last congress of the RDPC, Mr. Biya's political party, Mr. Sarkozy's UMP was not invited as usual.

In this rightful place, instead, China's communist party was invited and was designated as "the best friend" of Cameroun. In addition, the results of the presidential election in Cameroon were announced by Beijing and not Yaoundé, four hours before the results' were proclaimed by the Cameroun's Supreme Court.

This bring us to say, without fear of being wrong, that Cameroun's position is pro-China. This is the reason why Mr. Obama's America could only throw in the tower, as a sign of giving up, in front of the displayed support of China, in what had been afraid to be called "post election crisis of Cameroun".

The American Ambassador, Mr. Jackson's accusations against the electoral process only got the effect of "a barking dog while the caravan continues its merry way". With these maneuvers, Beijing had already made it clear that Cameroon was not Cote d'Ivoire.

As this was not a random decision in Beijing to choose the date of 10/8/2011, one day before the election, the joint ceremony between Mr. Biya and the Chinese representative to put together, the foundation stone of Kribi's deep water construction site, with an initial envelop of $ 1 billion paid as a real challenge to Westerners who themselves are in deep financial crisis.

Cameroun's electoral approved of this act, by sanctifying, the day after, the election of Mr. Biya with 78%. This is Far from the mismanagement of the situation in Cote d'Ivoire by the West a few months earlier.  

 

-Whom, Between Cameroun and Cote D'Ivoire Will be Right about Their Choice ?

While it is still too early to speak of Cameroun, we can already draw the first conclusions on the case of Cote d'Ivoire, and realized that the situation today is far worse than what prevailed during the crisis under Mr. Laurent Gbagbo. The IMF has put forward a figure of -7.5% growth in the country for 2011, making the Ivory Coast, the only country in recession for the entire African continent, that is to say , worse than Somalia, where even without a stable government, there will be 1% growth for 2011, which means a growth somehow positive.

The same sources inform us of underperformances against the Ivorian economy, where the state owe the tidy sum of nearly 1,000 billion CFA francs to companies. And the entire 2012 budget that just passed will be financed from abroad.

Let us take randomly, a common date in the two countries, as of yesterday 23/11/2011. What is the main news in Côte d'Ivoire: the spokesman for the European Commission President, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, who announces that Mr. Alassane Ouattara Dramane is in Brussels where he will be meeting throughout the day, Mr. Karel de Gucht, European Trade and export Commissioner, is to speak of Ivorian cocoa exportation toward the European Union's countries.

In the Meantime, in Cameroun, Mr. Martin Yankwa, General Inspector of the Cameroun's Ministry of Industry, Mines and Technological Development, is announcing the signing of an agreement with the Chinese government, to set up a factory, the SITRACO, worth 1.6 billion FCFA in Douala for the conversion of 40% of all the cotton from Cameroon, in order to supply the many hospitals that China is also building across Cameroun, with medical supplies such as pads and rolls of gauze of cotton.

In the first case, this is yet another visit to the West since taking power last May, 2011. The first visit was at the G8 summit, in Deauville, France, where the friend Sarkozy, President of France, had a great desire to celebrate the military victory of his presidency, but had forgotten to inform his protégé, Mr. Ouattara, that he was in a financial storm himself, with three major banks that had just lost at the stock market nearly 40% of their value, which reach very quickly the following day, 65% for the biggest one.

There was the 07/27/2011 visit to Washington to ask for money. Unfortunately again, we forgot to tell Ouattara that Mr. Obama was in a quarrel with the new Republican majority in Congress, that would not grant him (Obama) an extension for new debt, and suddenly, accompanied by other African presidents who all seemed in the White House, like schoolboys in the principal's office, giving the pictures published by the White House of the meeting, they have the bitter looks on their faces, giving the impression of being at a funeral ceremony.

 

-How to Read These Two Events?  

   

IN COTE D'IVOIRE

The Ivorian approach is wrong, in my opinion, because the Cocoa and Coffee should simply be eradicated in the African continent.

This is the only certainty to end the dark days of colonial submission and humiliation, with all its economy, as the cultivation of certain plants, that even a major financial newspapers in the West continues to rank, at the end of 2011 as "colonial products.

More than 50 years after independence, an African leader still going to Europe to negotiate a colonial product, that is to say, to voluntarily continue to grow this product, which corresponded to the vision and interests of the European colonial Africa. It's a political mistake, and especially an historical and economical one, because no country in the face of the world has ever been enriched by continuing the production of a colonial product.

Even Brazil was forced to renounced his position, as the world's leading Coffee producer, to produce Meat, and is now exporting to Europe because it is one 100 times profitable, and the production is weekly, not annually. .".

Former President Mr. Laurent Gbagbo had a choice: to turn to Africa in order for his country to move from a colonial economy to something else, the repositioning of Cote d'Ivoire, to abandon the colonial products such as Coffee and Cocoa, for strategic profitable sectors such as petrochemicals which is 100% African.

To achieve this, it is the Ivorian experts who have been admitted to advise and develop infrastructure for this migration concept, including Equatorial Guinea, Angola, etc ...

In other words, Côte d'Ivoire was going to specialized in "Intelligence" to count and control in Africa and that, in only six months, Cote d'Ivoire is back to the dark hours of field work, the colonial period , manual work, putting its old servants' apron back to use, as required by European master, its place in the Cocoa and Coffee plantations and tropical countries.  

 

IN CAMEROUN

The approach in Cameroun is to encourage, because the decision to establish a cotton processing plant in Cameroun has two advantages: First, because the real added value of an agricultural product resides in its transformation into finished product, second, because the produce to satisfy a national need, helps to boost local demand and establishes the virtuous circle of wealth creation.

It is expected that within the next 10 years, Cameroun will move from being a cotton importer country to a cotton exporting one, satisfying the country's cotton demand in hospitals and also being able to satisfy the African market.

What the leaders from Cameroun understood is Laurent Gbagbo' vision, which is that from now on, it is in Africa that we must seek wealth. Sitraco is the tree hiding the forest's vast health development project's business in Cameroun, which will attract patients not only from neighbouring countries but from much further.

Through its hospitals, Cameroun wants to get the lucrative medical evacuation bonanza to France from French-speaking African countries, in particular for very specific specialties: cardiovascular, trauma, neurosurgical, ontological ophthalmological.

According to incredible figures provided by Mr. Bedouma Alain Yoda, Minister of Health of Burkina Faso, the government of a small and poor country like Burkina Faso pays to France to evacuate about fifty patients a year, a whopping 900 million FCFA (1,372,000 Euros) annually.

This information was made public by the daily Burkina Faso daily news paper, "The Country", in its edition of September 19, 2007.

In Yaoundé, we want some of that cake. History does not tell us yet, if Paris is very happy with the activism of this new unexpected competitor.

Another area in which the leaders of Yaoundé are looking for trouble with Mr. Sarkozy of France is in training and education. One can easily imagine the scene inside the Etoudi Palace (home of the President of Cameroun), where the host takes a pen and calculator to see how much cash is generated each year from African students who flock in Europe?

A real jack pot! And all productive reflections had to be on knowing how to catch some of that! Once again, thanks to the Chinese partnership, public and private Universities are now coming out of the ground like mushrooms, with University campuses, and a shipyards of Chinese construction sites to deliver the works as soon as possible.

Cameroun, enjoying the privileged position of being the only bilingual (French / English) country in the African continent, is not only trying to prevent Cameroonians to leave their country, but is also trying to attract other African students. While the host of the Elysee (home of the French President) counts on the stigmatization of African students to boost their poll numbers, one can bet that removing such an excuse will be lived as a crime.

Since the month of May 2011 already, a decree has surfaced to summon African students to leave France the day after their graduation.

        

-What To Do Once One Realizes The Mistake in Choosing Alliances?

Today, the development of Africa is a matter of decisive choice in the geostrategic position of each country. The alliance with the West, on the verge of bankruptcy, seems suicidal to me as choice, because the result is known in advance: misery guaranteed as main course and debts for dessert.

The Libyan leader Gaddafi is an example of the suicidal choice. He chose the alliance with the West, snubbing China or Russia, and by letting his Secret Service's be controlled by the CIA. Which later will be fatal to him, knowing that it is the same Secret Service, by becoming american, who was no longer safe for him nowhere on the Libyan soil, let alone for his dolphin.

In the wild, mammals look for powerful and strong males to mate and provide offspring in order to guarantee the future. Because the weak is often bitter and generates other weaknesses that leave little to no chance for the race to survive for a longtime, and do not portend any future.

Right now, the West is this weakened animal and for that reason, is more dangerous to himself and to its allies. Its weakness makes it bitter.

A day will come when they will understand that they will no longer be saved from their deep financial and social crisis by Cote d'Ivoire and only then, they will realize that they do not need Mr. Ouattara.

When that day comes, coinciding with the awareness of doing the best interest of Ivoirians people first, it will whistle the end of the recreation for the colonial Cocoa.

That day, Ouattara will be soon renamed "African dictator" and there is no need to be a magician in order to predict that, on that day, all NGOs will come out, raising from everywhere to explain how he is wicked and how he enriched himself on the backs of his own people. Another African will be found quickly to replace Ouattara that day and we, the African people will be there to support him with all our strength, exactly as we did for the Libyan Leader and its predecessors. Because the African tradition requiring us to never abandon one of our own, no matter what.

Nicolas Machiavelli (1469-1527) did he not say that "To predict the future, we must know the past, for the events of this world at all times, have links to the times that preceded them. Created by men animated by the same passions, these events must necessarily have the same results? "

How many will we be to respond "present" in support of Mr. Ouattara when his hour of disgrace arrives? What history will remember of him beyond his inglorious page he wrote with his famous "International Community"? only Ouattara and his team will be able to answer these questions, through the actions and decisions they will lead using their brains to not insist on recipes that have already shown their limits.

The worst is not to make mistakes, but to persist in making them.

And the wisest move for him, in my opinion, will be to have the courage and strength to go against those who put him in power and to free his brother Laurent Gbagbo.

He, then will have left the treachery Africa and the "governors" club to enter into the courageous Africa in defense of African human Dignity. We are different from Europeans.

To build the European Union, they resorted to a catalog of all conditions to be met before entering the EU and countries like Turkey since 1962, have continuously failed to satisfy these conditions. In Africa we have privileged other values than money.

That is why there has never been any catalog of conditions for accession to the Organization of African Unity (OAU) yesterday and to the African Union (AU) today and tomorrow in the United States of Africa under construction.

What unites us is primarily the fight against the humiliation that the West wants to impose on us since the dawn of time.

The International Criminal Tribunal is not a clear evidence of the animosity against human dignity in Africa?

How to explain that with the 3 million deaths in Cambodia, a genocide perpetrated by the "Khmer Rouge", the special court is undergoing on the Cambodian soil?

The common denominator of the African people is anti-colonialism. It even was the basis for the foundation of the OAU.

And we will not build the United States of Africa without involving everyone, without realizing the harmful ability of those who want to arm us, those who want to divide us in order to hunt our Heads of State from power, and kill them. We are extremely outraged by these acts of barbarism and if those who have power are not aware of this, we must be outraged twice as much.

   

-CONCLUSION

The decline of the West is paradoxically an opportunity for Africa, provided that we are aware of the importance of the place we can occupy in this new era with the redistribution of seats.

The West cannot help us because it cannot help itself.

Mr. Obama visited Ghana and presented that country as the window of a Western allied who is succeeding, but the truth is a bit bitter.

Ghana, for its growth, turned to China and received 10 billion of American dollars, provided by China alone, an amount that no Western country is capable to offer.

For the story, yesterday 11/23/2011, for the first time, even Germany, the European most virtuous and richest country, could not borrow money on the markets, their operators are the first to bet on their inexorable downward spiral.

In this 21st century this is the end of the United Nations and the triumph of CONTINENT-STATES. I do not look forward to the beginning of the prosperity in my country, Cameroun, as long as the economy of another African country, such as Cote d'Ivoire is lowered, because we need to be together, all of us, to have the necessary strength to resist to the aggressors in order to built the basis for a stable continental economy.

To do so, we need alliances, we need to count our friends, our true friends. For now, the best friend of Africa is China and we should all be outraged when Europe goes to Beijing to talk about Africa, about us, without us.

Have we not sufficiently grown out of adolescence in the eyes of the West?

Other African heads of state, as Laurent Gbagbo, will be further humiliated by them, and some others, as Kadhafi, will be killed.

But the worst thing that an African can do is to be a participant in any way, of these acts, to be an accomplice, directly or indirectly, and direct these acts against his own, against all of us.

Because every African who is demeaned, it is all of us who are demeaned, every African who is humiliated, it is all of us who are humiliated and every African who is insulted "scum", it is all of us who are insulted "scum", every African who is killed, it is us all who are killed.

Defending one another is to defend oneself today, is to defend our children tomorrow. And to choose our alliances, we must first identify, against whom we have to defend ourselves.  

    

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War Crimes Court Should Strengthen Victims' Participation  

Ipsnews - United Nations - December 28, 2011

Tressia Boukhors interviews BRIGID INDER, Executive Director of Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice

    

Most of the cases brought before the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) include gender-based crimes, but advocates say the court is still falling short in ensuring that women play an active role in decision-making and outreach at the highest levels.

The NGO Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice  recently launched its seventh "Annual Gender Report Card on the International Criminal Court", examining the court's internal policies, recruitment and personnel statistics, and offering detailed recommendations to improve gender equality and gender competence.

 

The ICC has made progress on some issues. With her election on Dec. 1, Fatou Bensouda became the first woman and the first African to be appointed chief prosecutor of the court, which focuses on genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

 

"It is hugely symbolic that a woman has been elected," said Brigid Inder, executive director of Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice, an international rights organisation that advocates for gender justice through the ICC and domestic mechanisms in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Kenya, Libya and Kyrgyzstan.

"It is a wonderful and historic moment," Inder told IPS.

However, she said access and outreach to victims remains a challenge, and noted that there is currently a huge backlog of 6,000 victims' applications which have not been processed by the court.

Excerpts from the interview follow.

 

Q: What is the link between the number of women in the ICC staff and the treatment of gender issues at the court?

A: There are two issues: one is gender equality and another is gender competence. From our review and analysis of the court, we can see that the gender equality issue is good overall but we still found differences when we looked at the positions to which women are appointed. They tend to be clustered in the lower to mid-level positions, with few women appointed at (higher) level decision-making or leadership positions.

Gender equality is also about structural power within the hierarchy and not only the number of women appointed to positions. It is also about the capacity and opportunity for women to contribute to key decision making moments: the identification of cases, the construction of case hypotheses, the decision regarding the construction of charges. We need more improvement in those areas to increase the court's gender capacity.

The second area touched upon is gender competence and this involves both men and women. Specifically, gender competence refers to the ability to identify and understand the gender implications and dimensions of all of the work of the ICC, and the different ways in which women and men, boys and girls, are affected by the kinds of violence that have been committed in conflicts.

And we see this as a responsibility for both men and women. When we talk about the gender competence of the court, we are referring to its ability as an institution to deliver gender-inclusive justice.

 

Q: Would a quota policy and affirmative action be an effective solution?

A: One of the key advantages of the Rome Statute (the treaty that created the ICC) is that it explicitly identifies the need for gender legal advisers and for people to be hired with expertise in addressing sexual violence, including sexual violence committed against women and children.

The statute itself requires this expertise to be a part of the development of the institution. We think that this can certainly help in terms of women being appointed, but there is also a general article in the Rome Statute requiring fair representation, that is to say geographical representation so that States Parties are fairly represented in the staff of the ICC, and also a fair representation of men and women.

So there is a structural requirement for the court to address these issues and, I think, in a very positive and helpful way. It doesn't mean a forced and false construction of creating special conditions, it is instead a recognition of the right of men and women to be appointed to those positions and also the need for the necessary capacity around sexual violence against women and the capacity to provide legal advice on gender issues that is a requirement of the statute itself.

 

Q: Is there a gap in terms of outreach and access for women victims?

A: We have seen in our review of the ICC that 29 percent of the participants in the ICC outreach activities are women. That is a very low number: less than a third of the participants are women. And when you look at the cases before the ICC, almost all of them include charges of gender-based crimes.

There is a mismatch between the people who are victims of the crimes, the charges in the ICC cases, and those who are being reached by the court's outreach activities. We can also see that there is a lower number of women who are applying to the court to be recognised as victims and who have been formally recognised to participate in the ICC cases.

There is a direct link between information, outreach and access. The court needs to develop more women-specific meetings and strategies, and to be more creative in the fora they are providing in order to reach women who may have less access to mainstream forms of media and formal communication systems within villages and communities. It appears women are requiring strategies that will allow them to access this information directly.

 

Q: Does the situation most often concern less developed countries?

A: All of the conflict situations right now that are situations under investigation by the court would be described as developing countries. The court is also working in countries that have experienced long periods of armed conflict, which has usually caused disintegration of public institutions and infrastructure.

Often the security sector, including the police force, is no longer functioning. In many instances, the judicial system is also not operating or is functioning with high levels of corruption. The structure of communities has disintegrated from decades of conflict and suffering.

 

Q: How open has the ICC been to recommendations of your Gender Report Card since 2005, and have you seen any progress?

A: We have seen progress over the seven years we have been reporting. The court has been in existence for almost 10 years. Certainly, they are learning lessons. Some lessons they are learning slowly, and in some areas these lessons are absorbed, while in other areas it appears the lessons are bound for unfortunate repetition.

It is an institution that is continuing to grow and develop and learn. We can see that they are being increasingly responsive to our advocacy around investigating and prosecuting sexual gender-based crimes, which have now been charged in six of seven situations and in eight of 14 cases.

The ICC has the best record in relation to charging the gender-based crimes of any of the international tribunals. The challenge for the court now is the quality of the charges and the efficacy of the prosecution strategies. This is where they have been slow to learn some of the lessons.

    

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ASIA

The Year that Was

SouthAsia OneWorld – December 31, 2011

    

We look back on key development and human rights issues, events and happenings that have made a big difference to people's lives in South Asia and the rest of the world. Read on.

 

-The dissenters

The Protestor was the top newsmaker of 2011. The so-called Arab Spring, starting with Tunisia, swept a wave of anti-government protests through Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Libya, Syria andYemen as people took to the streets in quest for democracy and human rights. While each revolution unfolded its own plot, what stood out in all these protests is the number of young people who want to bring changes to their country.

Without doubt, the world was aless peaceful place due to rising conflicts between people and their governments in the Middle East.

And the protests continue. TheOccupy Wall Street protest that erupted in New York's financial district against growing income inequality between America's 1% rich and the remaining population, unemployment and financial corruption have sparked many more Occupy protests worldwide.

    

-Nuclear alarm

Japan's nuclear nightmare, triggered by an earthquake and tsunami, made global headlines as the Fukushima nuclear power plant suffered severe damage to its reactor core and set off radiation fears. The severity of the nuclear emergency - previously applied to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine - also set off a global debate on the need for nuclear energy.

     

-Desert hunger

The United Nations declaredfamine in parts of Somalia in East Africa as it suffered the worst drought in 60 years. Over 10 million people have been affected by the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa as hunger spread to Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda.

  

-Climate talk @ Durban

As global greenhouses gas emissions continue to soar, delegates from 194 nations gathered at South Africa to kick off the 17th Conference of Parties climate change talks to seek new commitment to the Kyoto Protocol. The ensuing agreement on a new binding accord that would come into force by 2020 however may not be enough, say experts.

        

-Health matters

Cancer, diabetes and heart ailments are the new global health threat. Data released in 2011 shows 12 million new cancer casesworldwide - four times more the number of new HIV infections. In developing nations, breast and cervical cancers among young women are overtaking pregnancy related complications and childbirths as leading causes of deaths.

Stillbirths continue to be thelargest invisible health issue, accounting for over 2 million global cases each year - a figure higher than AIDS and malaria deaths combined, revealed a new series of studies.

In medical research, groundbreaking studies demonstrated antiretroviral tablets as a highly effective measure to prevent HIV infectionamong partners of people living with HIV. 

A new malaria vaccine, focusing on cellular immunity, revealed promising results in a year-long study of 15,000 African children aged below 18 months. Infants given the jab reduced the risk of getting malaria by half.

However an acute shortage of funds declared by the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria will halt new funding for the three killer diseases till 2014.

      

-South Asia highlights

India. The Supreme Court of India grants bail to civil rights activist Binayak Sen, who faced a life-sentence on charges of sedition and links with Naxalites.

The Indian government gives a green signal to the proposed Jaitapur nuclear plant in Maharashtra even as environmentalists and locals protest against its ecological impacts.

Korean steel giant POSCO gets government clearance despitestrong protests by villagers.

India's census shocks the countrywith its skewed child sex ratio. Up to 12 million girls may have been aborted in India during the last 30 years, says a Lancet study.

The Cabinet approves the new Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation & Resettlement Bill, but the provisions have been 'watered down' to put farmers and livelihood losers at a disadvantage, say activists.

Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign stirs up the otherwise 'comfort-seeking' nation into action as thousands march in support of the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Indian capital and cities. The bill's fate however stands in limbo as the Indian parliament fails to vote in its winter session.

The government tables the National Food Security Bill that will provide subsidised food grains to 62% of the country's population.

Inequality in earnings doubles in India over the last two decades, making it the worst performer among all emerging economies.

Afghanistan is the worst country for women, says an expert poll on gender issues, with Pakistan andIndia ranking third and fourth respectively. Afghanistan also has the highest risk of maternal mortality and the lowest female life expectancy in the world, according to a 2011 index.

In Pakistan, heavy rains hit north Pakistan, evoking painful recall of the 2010 flood disaster, and displacing hundreds from their homes.

In a serious blow to religious extremism, Pakistan's Minister for Minorities is assassinated for supporting the repeal of the controversial blasphemy law which mandates death penalty for insulting Islam. Pakistan also continues to be the deadliest nation for journalists, second year in a row.

Bangladesh's war tribunal files its first charge sheet while investigating human rights abuses during the 1971 freedom struggle against Pakistan. Meanwhile a UN report claims allegations of war crimescommitted by the Sri Lanka government and the Tamil Tigers during the final phases of their war as 'credible' and calls for an investigation.

In Nepal, Maoist Baburam Bhattarai becomes the fourth Prime Minister since the civil war ended in 2006. Nepal finally strikes ahistoric peace deal to integrate one-third of the former Maoist fighters into the security forces and provide compensation to the rest.  

    

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LATIN AMERICA

No time left to adapt to melting glaciers by Stephen Leahy *

Tierramérica - Uxbridge, Canada - December 27, 2011  

   

The water supplied by the glaciers of the Cordillera Blanca, vital to a huge region of northwest Peru, is decreasing 20 years sooner than expected, according to a new study.

Water flows from the region's melting glaciers have already peaked and are in decline, Michel Baraer, a glaciologist at Canada's McGill University, told Tierramérica. This is happening 20 to 30 years earlier than forecasted.

"Our study reveals that the glaciers feeding the Río Santa watershed are now too small to maintain past water flows. There will be less water, as much as 30 percent less during the dry season," said Baraer, lead author of the study "Glacier Recession and Water Resources in Peru's Cordillera Blanca", published Dec. 22 in the Journal of Glaciology.

When glaciers begin to shrink in size, they generate "a transitory increase in runoff as they lose mass," the study notes.

However, Baraer explained, the water flowing from a glacier eventually hits a plateau and from this point onwards there is a decrease in the discharge of melt water. "The decline is permanent. There is no going back."

Part of the South American Andes Mountain chain, the Cordillera Blanca is a series of snow-covered peaks running north to south, parallel to the Cordillera Negra, located further west. Between the two ranges lies the Callejón de Huaylas, through which the Río Santa runs, eventually emptying into the Pacific Ocean.

The tropical glaciers of the Andes Mountains are in rapid decline, losing 30 to 50 percent of their ice in the last 30 years, according to the French Institute for Research and Development (IRD).

Most of the decline has been since 1976, IRD reported, due to rising temperatures in the region as a result of climate change. In Bolivia, the Chacaltaya glacier disappeared in 2009.

Even in the colder regions of the Andes glaciers are in full retreat. Chile's Centre for Scientific Studies reported this month that the Jorge Montt Glacier in the vast Patagonian Ice Fields receded one entire km in just one year. Historically glacial retreat is extremely slow: one or two km per 100 years.

Melting glaciers around the world present some of the strongest evidence that global climate change is underway, said Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State University, the world's foremost glaciologist.

Thompson warns that without sharp reductions in the use of fossil fuels, the impacts of climate change could come faster and beyond what humanity can adapt to.

Warmer temperatures not only melt ice but also have major effects on snowfall.

As cool seasons become warmer and snow turns to rain, the amount and duration of snow packs decrease and the permanent snow line moves upslope, according to the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), an intergovernmental science organisation based in Săo José dos Campos, Brazil.

These changes have significant effects on the seasonality of stream flows, increasing winter flow rates while the availability of water during the summer declines when water in streams and rivers comes mainly from snow and ice melt.

In many High Andean tropical and subtropical valleys, spring and summer snow and glacier melt are critical for crops, livestock and human consumption. Several major Andean cities rely heavily on glacier and snow melt for their water supply, such as La Paz and Lima, with demand increasingly outstripping the supply, according to a 2010 IAI communiqué.

The Cordillera Blanca has the most glaciers of any tropical mountain range in the world. In the 1930s glaciers covered up to 850 sq km of the region and now they cover less than 600 sq km, reports Baraer and the eight other study authors from McGill University, Ohio State University, the University of California, the IRD and the glaciology unit of the Peruvian National Water Authority.

Most of the melt water from these glaciers drains into the Río Santa watershed. The researchers compared detailed water flow measurements from the 1950s to water flows in recent years, and determined that of the nine sub-watersheds of the Río Santa, seven have passed their peak water flow and are in decline, and almost all of the decline is during the dry summer months.

Changes in precipitation and the effects of La Nińa and El Nińo were also assessed and were not responsible for the declines, Baraer said.

Until now it was widely believed that such declines would take place 20 to 30 years from now, allowing time to adapt to a future with less water. "Those years don't exist," said Baraer.

The region is extremely dry, and the Callejón de Huaylas and especially the agriculturally important province of Carhuaz are completely dependent on water from the Río Santa to irrigate the extensive fruit and vegetable fields, he said.

The Río Santa is also the main source of drinking water for cities in the area, as is the case of many rivers in the Andean region. For instance, Lima, the world's second largest desert city after Cairo, depends on water from the Río Rímac watershed, also in the Andes.

"The northern Andes (in Peru) are close to being a desert. It is the water from the glaciers that has allowed people to survive here," Baraer said.

Last summer, researchers took measurements of the Río Santa's water volume from the estuary where it reaches the Pacific all the way up to its sources in the Andes. They found that less than 20 percent of the water reaches the ocean now. "Eighty percent of the water from the Santa is already being used," he said.

Projections into the future reveal that in the coming decades some Río Santa sub-watersheds will have 30 percent less water - a serious challenge to the entire region when 80 percent of current volumes are already being used, Baraer stressed.

"This water decline is guaranteed. The only question is how much and how quickly," he said. There is already so much carbon in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels that it is "already too late for most of the glaciers in the Andes," he concluded.  

 

*The writer is an IPS correspondent. This story was originally published by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme and the World Bank.  

    

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ARGENTINA

Investigation on  Human Rights Crimes of Spain's Franco Era by Marcela Valente

Ipsnews - Buenos Aires, December 28, 2011 

     

A judge in Argentina has begun to investigate human rights crimes committed during Spain's civil war and the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco (1936-1975).

This month, federal judge María Servini asked Spain for information on Spanish military officials, as part of a new investigation based on a lawsuit filed in April 2010 by human rights lawyers in Argentina in the name of relatives of victims of the Franco dictatorship.

The judge requested the names of military officers involved in the Franco regime; lists of victims of forced disappearance and summary execution; lists of children who were stolen from their parents during the dictatorship; and the names of companies that allegedly benefited from the forced labour of political prisoners.

Servini initially shelved the lawsuit, on the grounds that investigations had been opened in Spain. But the Cámara Federal, a second instance court, ordered her to investigate whether Spain's justice system was effectively taking action.

The case thus landed back in the hands of Servini who, invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity, issued the request for a wide range of information, such as the addresses - or death certificates - of agents of the regime.

The human rights lawyers who brought the suit presented Servini with a new document in which they stress that, after 36 years of dictatorship and 36 years of democracy in Spain, "not only is there not even a truth commission, but not one single child has had his or her identity restored.

"The case was opened in Argentina because everything indicated that not even with a socialist government did the will exist for it to prosper there," one of the Argentine lawyers, Beinusz Szmukler, told IPS, referring to the government of socialist prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004-Dec. 21, 2011).

To make his point, he pointed to the case against Spain's internationally renowned judge Baltasar Garzón, who was suspended from his post in May 2010, accused of overstepping his jurisdiction for starting to investigate crimes committed during that country's 1936-1939 civil war and subsequent dictatorship.

Garzón had applied the principle of universal jurisdiction to investigate crimes committed by the dictatorships of Argentina (1976-1983) and Chile (1973-1990), when amnesty laws still blocked legal action in these two South American countries.

But when the judge launched a probe into human rights abuses in his own country, which were covered by an amnesty issued by parliament in 1977, "he was shoved aside, and now he runs the risk of losing his career as a judge," said Szmukler.

Spain's Association for the Recovery of the Historical Memory - which helps relatives search common graves for victims of the civil war and dictatorship - and a dozen human rights groups in Argentina are behind the lawsuit filed in Buenos Aires on behalf of the families of victims of the Franco era.

Citing many of the arguments presented by Garzón, the human rights lawyers filed the lawsuit in Argentine court in the name of six relatives of victims, who live in Argentina. The group of plaintiffs will grow in the next few months, because new cases of relatives are being presented, said Szmukler.

One of the plaintiffs is 91-year-old Darío Rivas, who is seeking justice in the murder of his father, Severino Rivas, purportedly killed in 1936 by members of Spain's fascist Falange movement.

Severino Rivas was mayor of the coastal village of Castro de Rei in the northwestern Spanish province of Galicia when he was seized and shot. He was missing for decades until his remains were found in an unmarked common grave and handed over to Darío in 2005.

"Mr. Severino Rivas and the families of Inés García Holgado (another plaintiff) were the victims of a homicide technique perfected by the Spanish Falange: 'paseos' (strolls) that ended with a bullet to the back of the neck," the lawsuit says.

Holgado is the grand-niece of Elías García Holgado, who was mayor of the town of Lumbrales and legislator in the western province of Salamanca when he was arrested in 1936. He was executed a year later.

The lawsuit says these circumstances are similar to those of thousands of other people killed in "what constituted a systematic, widespread, deliberate plan to terrorise Spaniards who backed representative government, by means of the physical elimination of its most representative exponents."

In their brief, the human rights lawyers note that Spanish courts actively exercised universal jurisdiction in cases of crimes against humanity committed in Argentina, Chile and Guatemala.

The aim of the legal action is not to question Spain's amnesty law, which was recently upheld in the face of an attempt to repeal it, but to exercise universal jurisdiction in Argentina with respect to crimes "that offend and injure humanity, and are still unpunished," the lawyers stated.

Human rights organisations put the number of victims of forced disappearance during Spain's civil war and the Franco dictatorship at 113,000. Some 2,500 mass graves have been located and excavated over the last few years.

In addition, there are an estimated 30,000 cases of children who were stolen in Spain and given or sold to adoptive families. But no legal action has been taken in any of these cases in Spain, and the now-adult children have never discovered their real identities or been reunited with their biological families.

In solidarity with these cases, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo have joined the case as co-plaintiffs. The Grandmothers association was created to search for the children who were "disappeared" along with their parents in Argentina during the dictatorship and raised by military couples or families who adopted them in good faith.

Szmukler and the rest of the lawyers say they will not be satisfied with a declaration merely recognising that the genocide took place, and promising to find out the truth about what happened.

There is a precedent for that in Argentina. The descendants of people killed in the 1915-1923Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire, which claimed some 1.5 million lives, successfully pressed for this South American country to officially recognise the genocide, in April.

"In the case of Spain, when we presented the lawsuit there were at least 13 (dictatorship-era) military officers still alive, and there are also the cases of 30,000 people who are unaware of their origins and identity," the lawyer said.

"We want an in-depth investigation, to determine the truth and establish who was responsible. If Spain does not do it, we will do it here. I hope we get cooperation," he added.  

        

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BANGLADESH

Primary terminal examination results

Daily Star - December 28, 2011

Raises hopes for the future

 

The pass rate percentage in the primary education terminal examinations has seen a steady increase in the two years since its inception, hitting a record high at 97.26 percent this, its third, year. A number of factors have been identified as having contributed to the improvement, including free textbook distribution, stipends and certificates for students, training programmes for teachers followed by monitoring and evaluation, better care of students by both teachers and guardians as well as students' own awareness of academic issues. The fact that over 1 lakh students have achieved GPA-5 also shows the amount of talent which exists in our children and the potential for the future.

However, there are still schools with no success, that is, zero pass rate, and though the number has decreased, it remains a cause for concern. Of equal, if not greater, concern is the dropout rate, which, though also on the decline, is still high. Although government measures to address the issue, such as providing stipends and meals, have helped somewhat, poverty still plays an important role in keeping students out of school and at work instead. This is especially so in the case of girls who, if they fail once, are discouraged to go back to school. More intensive efforts in the form of incentives for poor students, may be necessary in this regard.

Overall, however, from what the latest results show, the picture of the future is bright and we congratulate the students on, and take hope in, their achievements. With a steady government commitment to primary education, we may be optimistic that the pass rate will continue to increase and the dropout rate to decline. Most importantly, we wish that our children will be benefited by a standard education system which will build the foundation of their future and that of the nation's, along with it.  

           

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Rural students cut sorry figure by Mushfique Wadud

New Age - December 29, 2011  

Educationists blame teacher shortage, poor infrastructure

          

Urban students continue to have better education, and doing better in exams, than students in rural areas although the government has claimed that it was working to end the urban-rural disparity in education.

The education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, almost all the time he spoke said that the ministry was working to bridge the gap in education between rural and urban areas.

The results of the two recent public examinations - Junior School Certificate and Primary Terminal examinations - show that urban schools and cadet colleges are performing better.

The results show that private schools are performing better and most of the GPA 5 scorers are mainly from urban areas.

Educationists said that inadequate number of teachers and poor infrastructure were responsible for the poor performance of schools in rural areas. They said that students in rural areas could not compete with students in urban areas for shortage of teachers and poor infrastructure.

'How can you expect rural students to compete with urban students when the students in rural areas do not have adequate number of teachers and good infrastructure?' said Serajul Islam Choudhury, professor emeritus in Dhaka University.

Serajul Islam said that schools in rural areas continued to be neglected and it was creating a class division.

'Another thing is that public organisations are declining. All public organisations - hospitals, transport companies and others are neglected while private organisations are flourishing,' he said.

The Campaign for Popular Education's executive director Rasheda K Choudhury said that investment in every student was not equal.

'If we cannot invest equally in students, we will not get equal results from all of them. An analysis of the results shows that the students with the government making good investment in them are doing better,' he said.

She said that the investment in cadet college was three times the the investment in general schools.

'It is very normal that cadet colleges would do better than other educational institutions,' she said.

Dhaka University Institute of Education and Research professor Siddiqur Rahman, also a member of the committee that formulated the Education Policy 2010, said that students of rural areas could not compete with students of

urban areas not only in the Junior School Certificate and the Primary Terminal examinations but also in the Secondary School Certification and the Higher Secondary Certificate examinations.

'In the past, we found many students from rural areas in Dhaka University but the number is now on the decline,' he said.

He said that rural schools did not have qualified teachers for which the students not could perform well in public examinations.

'We need to increase facilities in rural schools to reduce the urban-rural disparity,' he said.

Two hundred and twenty-five out of the 317 government secondary schools had run without headteachers for quite a long time. The government, however, recently appointed headteachers in the schools.

Educationalist Moniruzzaman Miah said that the main reason for the poor performance of rural students was the inadequate number of teachers and poor infrastructure in rural schools. He said that many rural schools did not have teachers for the main subjects.

'In many schools, classes are not regularly held for the shortage of classrooms,' he said. 'Facilities in rural schools must be increased for students to perform better.'

Seventeen out of the top-performing 20 schools in the Primary Terminal examinations are in urban areas of Dhaka and the remaining three schools are also in urban areas outside the capital. They are all private educational institutions.

There is only one government school among the top 20 schools - the Government Laboratory High School in Dhaka, ranged 17th among the total 20.

The top five schools in the Primary Terminal examinations are Manipur High School, Viqarunnisa Noon School, Ideal School and College, Milestone Preparatory School and Ideal School and College - all in Dhaka and are privately run.

Nineteen hundred and ninety-four students took the examinations from Manipur High School and 1,438 of them scored GPA 5.

The JSC results show that the top 20 schools under any education boards are located in urban areas. There are hardly any government schools among the top 20 schools.

Under the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Dhaka, the top five schools are Rajuk Uttara Model School, Ideal School and College at Motijheel, Mirzapur Cadet College, Viqarunnisa Noon School and College and Dhaka Residential Model College.

Under the Rajshahi education board, Rajshahi Cadet College topped while Pabna Cadet College was the second.

Under the Comilla board, Feni Girls' Cadet College topped while Comilla Cadet College was placed in the second position.

Under the Jessore board, Military Collegiate School was ranked in the first position and Jhenaidah Cadet College in the second.

Under the Chittagong board, Faujdarhat Cadet College earned the second place.

Under the Sylhet board, Sylhet Cadet College was the first and Jalalabad Cantonment Public School was the second.

Under the Barisal board of education, Barisal Cadet College topped.

Under the Dinajpur board, the top two schools are Cantonment Public School and College in Rangpur and Rangpur Cadet College.  

      

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88.71pc passes JDC exams

Daily Star - December 29, 2011  

       

The Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) examination results were out yesterday with a pass rate of 88.71 percent.

The pass rate was 81.03 percent last year.

The number of GPA-5 achievers increased by a large margin this year as well. Over 1,000 students secured GPA-5 (grade point average) this year whereas last year the figure was 504.

Over three lakh students sat for the examinations this year while another 14,000 students registered but did not appear for the exams.

With this result, madrasa students topped the list of success rate in nine education boards in the country--eight general and one madrasa board. However, in terms of GPA-5 achievers, they retained last position.

This year successful girls outnumbered the boys (1.6 lakh against 1.4 lakh boys) but 639 male students achieved GPA-5 against 375 females.

Over 40,000 students scored between GPA-5 and GPA-4.

Tanjimul Ummah Cadet Madrasa in the capital's Uttara topped the list of 20 best performing institutions under Madrasa Education Board, while Jhalokathi NS Kamil Madrasa was second and Al Jamiatul Falehia Kamil Madrasa secured the third position on the list.

The list of top 20 best performing institutions is prepared on the basis of five criteria set by the government including total number of examinees, successful examinees and GPA-5 achievers.

A total of 342 students, out of 348, who took the exams from seven overseas exam centres were successful. Of them, 33 secured GPA-5.  

    

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JSC results cause for satisfaction

Daily Star - December 30, 2011

Rural areas should receive priority attention  

 

THE remarkable showing by students in this year's Junior Scholarship Certificate examinations is cheery news. The pass rate has risen by 11 per cent while number of GPA-5 holders has increased significantly over that of the last year. It is more heartening to know that students in general have fared better in English and Mathematics, which well accounts for their higher pass rate. A similar trend is also observed in the Junior Dakhil Certificate examination. A word of praise, in this connection, is due to the education minister whose energetic steps in distributing free textbooks has helped spur this positive change.

In spite of the success story, the widening gap in dropout and pass rate between rural and urban areas is cause for worry. The list of 20 best performing schools in each education board, prepared by the education ministry, is invariably topped by those situated either in metropolitan cities or district towns. It underlines the asymmetrical teaching quality between urban and rural areas. Rural students are not only deprived of the fundamental institutional facilities that urban students are provided with, a good number of them are also compelled to drop out because of poverty. While we applaud the government steps to help growth in education sector, we believe there is a lot more that needs to be done in order to bridge educational disparities between urban and rural areas. The government would do well to step up its stipend programmes to encourage talent in rural schools.

Although female students have fared better in making the highest grade, they have lagged slightly behind in pass rate. As a measure of interest in education, we find larger number of girls appearing at the exams than boys.

One final point, female education should be further prioritized so that girls' dropout rate falls and pass rate goes up.  

   

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Church ordains Paharia priest

Ucanews - December 29, 2011

Community says it hopes the ordination is a sign of better days to come

     

The Catholic Church in northwestern Rajshahi diocese yesterday ordained its first priest from the tribal Paharia community after more than a century of evangelism among them.

Bishop Gervas Rozario of Rajshahi presided over the ordination of Manik William Biswas, 37, to the missionary congregation of the Franciscan Friars, along with confrere Nikhil Martin Ghorami.

About 5,000 people, including 30 priests and 26 nuns, attended the ordination at Good Shepherd Cathedral parish in Rajshahi, about 300 kilometers outside Dhaka.

Bishop Rozario called the ordination of the first Paharia priest a milestone.

“I thank God for this graceful ceremony and hope it will lead the faithful to better days of unity and brotherhood,” he said during the event.

Newly ordained Fr Biswas told attendees that he was happy to have overcome many challenges to reach the priesthood.

“I had to go through both ethnic and community struggles. Many students entered priestly formation life before me, but all of them left before the end. My community also thought that I would fail them.”

Fr Biswas said he was only able to reach his goal with support from his family and society.

“Not everyone in society was positive, but some of them extended their support with counseling, prayer and blessing. I thank them all.”

The origin of the Paharia community in Bangladesh dates back to the British colonial era, during which they were brought to the East Bengal as migrant workers from various Indian states.

The community first embraced Christianity in 1904, largely because of the work of Italian priest Father Tabezzio from the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions.

About 70 percent of the nearly 10,000-strong Paharia community, which continues to struggle with poverty and limited access to education, have converted to Catholicism.

Some in the community say that Fr Biswas’s ordination could lead to a resurgence for its struggling families.

“We are happy to offer our son for God’s vineyard today after years of dreaming. We hope the new priest will boost our faith and life. The Church and the community can look forward to better days ahead,” said Julian Biswas (no relation), a Paharia tribal leader.  

       

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Death penalty for terrorism by Hasan Jahid Tusher

Daily Star - December 27, 2011

Cabinet okays draft of amended anti-terror law  

       

The cabinet yesterday approved the final draft of the Anti-terrorism (amendment) Act, 2011 with a provision of death penalty for getting involved in, supporting or financing militancy and terrorist activities in the country.

According to the proposed act, a convict will have to serve a minimum rigorous jail term of three years to a maximum of 20 years, including fine or both depending on the nature of the crime.

Any Bangladeshi or foreign national using Bangladeshi land for terrorist activities in other countries or supporting such activities would be brought to trial under this act.

The approval came at the weekly cabinet meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

As per the act, a person or entity will be considered as a terrorist if the person or entity commits murder or injures, detains or kidnaps other(s) or do harm to someone else's property and uses or keeps explosives, flammable objects, firearms or other chemicals to destroy the integrity, solidarity, security or sovereignty of Bangladesh.

Earlier the cabinet on July 11 approved in principle the draft of the act and decided to bring some changes to it in line with international standards.

The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank and World Bank recently recommended the government incorporate some international standard provisions in the act including death penalty as the highest punishment.

Accordingly, the government incorporated the death penalty as the highest punishment instead of the earlier provision of maximum 20 years' imprisonment.

The National Coordination Committee headed by Finance Minister AMA Muhith brought the changes to the act. It will now be sent to parliament to make it a law, said meeting sources.

The law will enable the government to investigate any suspicious financial transaction of any non-governmental organisation, financial institution and commercial banks. On demand, these institutions will be obliged to give all the information about their financial transactions.

Under the existing act, the government enjoys the power to investigate financial transactions of banks only. Amendment has been brought to the act redefining the financial institutions, a minister who attended the cabinet meeting told The Daily Star preferring not to be named.

In the final draft, property has been defined as moveable or immovable assets or profits derived from the assets or negotiable instruments. It recognises one's properties both in and outside the country.

"The main aim of the act is to curb militancy, prevent money laundering and combat financing of terrorism," a senior Home Ministry official told The Daily Star.

The APG is an international organisation of 41 members including Bangladesh. It is closely affiliated with the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF). All the APG members are committed to effectively implement the FATF's international standards for combating money laundering and financing of terrorism.

The cabinet meeting also endorsed the Power of Attorney Act, 2011, Disaster Management Act, 2011 and Jute Policy 2011.

Several ministers drew the attention of the prime minister about some "false" news in the local media on the performance and failures of the government in the last three years. They observed that the media is portraying the failures much more than the successes.

The premier suggested them to file objections with Bangladesh Press Council against those media and publish advertisements detailing the government's successes.  

     

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Govt pry schools in dire straits by Mushfique Wadud

New Age - December 27, 2011  

       

Government primary schools across the country are failing to provide students with quality education as the schools do not have adequate teachers and infrastructure, parents and teachers say.

This continued deterioration of the standard of education in the schools left the guardians with no option but to send their children to kindergartens and English-medium schools for high tuition fees.

Only the guardians who cannot manage expenses for kindergartens send their children to government primary schools.

'If you visit any government primary school, you will understand why parents do not send their children to such schools. The school building remains dirty; benches are not adequate. The number of teachers is not enough and so on,' said Mofizul Islam, a guardian at Badda in Dhaka.

'You hardly find any middle-income group children studying in this school. Mostly rickshaw pullers, day-labourers and the low-income group people send their children to such schools,' he said.

There are about 37,000 public primary schools where about 213,600 teachers teach about 16.5 million students. Most of the schools are in rural areas.

Abdul Barek, a guardian at Uttara, said, 'As only the poor send their children to such schools, the government has no headache about improving the standards of education in the schools.'

Dhaka University professor emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury said, 'It is frustrating that government

primary schools do not have adequate teachers and infrastructures. 'If the situation does not change, chances of education for children from poor families will shrink further.'

 'It is alarming...If children from the poor section are deprived of standard education, it will lead to a social problem...,' he said.

He urged government to take steps to improve the standard of education in the registered primary schools.

Dhaka University Institute of Education Research professor Siddiqur Rahman said, 'Millions of people in this country cannot afford the tuition fees some private schools charge. If we cannot improve the quality of education in public schools, children of the poor section will be deprived of the education.'

In Dhour Government Primary School, just a few miles from the directorate of primary education, pre-primary classes are held on the school veranda.

'We do not have rooms and so we hold pre-primary classes on the school veranda,' the headmaster of the school said.

The school has 470 students and there are four classrooms and eight teachers.

Students of Kazifari Government Primary School at Mirpur in Dhaka cannot pay attention on their study as a slum is located just beside the school. The school playground is also occupied by slum dwellers.

Eight teachers teach 1100 students in five classrooms at Kazifari School. Students and teachers said that classes could not be held on time for shortage of classrooms.

In Nababerbagh Government Primary School, students cannot pay attention to their study in the rainy season as it rains through the roof. Seven teachers teach 800 students in six classrooms in the school.

Students and teachers said that they could not do classes in the summer as most fans in the school are out of order.

Parents of students of rural primary schools said much the same. Most of these schools also do not have proper water and sanitation facilities.

The headteacher of Nujhuri Government Primary School at Bhaluka in Mymensingh, Helena Khatun, said that the condition of the school building was so bad that she feared it might collapse any time. Four teachers teach around 200 students in the school.

'During the rainy season, attending classes is impossible as it rains through the roof,' said Moushumi, a Class V student of the school.

A student of Nijhuri Government Primary School said that they could use toilet as there is only one toilet but it is not in a good condition.

'If we had any alternative, we would not send our children to government schools,' said Abdul Baten, a grocery shop owner at Bhaluka in Mymensingh.

An official of the primary education directorate admitted to New Age that the condition of most rural schools was the same. Many schools do not have proper water and sanitation facilities, he said.

The government, however, claimed that it had significantly increased the number of teachers in the three years since the government came to power.

'The situation is improving. We have increased the number of teachers in these schools and more teachers will be recruited,' the director general of the primary education directorate, Shyamal Kanti Ghosh, told New Age.

The directorate's director (operations) Faruque Jalil claimed that the student-teacher ratio in government primary schools had been 1 to 57 in the past.

It is now 1 to 47 as the government has recruited 60,000 more teachers in three years, he said.

The development in the education sector cannot be seen overnight but the implication will be understood as time goes on, he added.  

   

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Holiday meeting boosts dialogue by Manik Willver D’Costa

Ucanews - December 27, 2011

Mayor, dignitaries express solidarity with annual message of cooperation

     

The Bishop of Chittagong met with the city’s mayor and representatives of other religious groups as part of interfaith efforts aimed at improving dialogue and cooperation.

Holy Cross Bishop Moses M Costa said that a priority of his mission as bishop, since his installation in May, had been to foster better relationships between Christians and people of other religious faiths in the country.

“This is my first Christmas in Chittagong,” he told attendees during the meeting. “From the very beginning until now, I feel that interreligious dialogue is very progressive here. I am very happy to share the joy of Christmas with you all.

The meeting, held at the Bishop’s House on December 25, was ttended by social workers, politicians and diplomats, among others.

The prelate added that cooperation and the forging of stronger relationships among Catholics and non-Catholics would be a chief goal of the coming year.  

  

Chittagong mayor Monjurul Alam, who was presented with a Christmas cake during the event, expressed his solidarity with Bishop Costa and his interfaith efforts.

“This gathering shows that Catholics are peace-loving, and they don’t celebrate Christmas only in small communities but with the greater society as well. They keep universality in mind.”

Moulana Iqbal Yousuf, a Muslim cleric and director of the Sufi Theory and Research Center, told attendees that the Christmas meeting has become a much-anticipated event each year and one that has helped strengthen interfaith relationships.

“We wait for this gathering, thinking in our minds that our Christmas is coming. The reception brings us closer to the Catholic bishops, religious brothers, nuns and lay faithful. Through the year we continue our friendship,” he said.  

    

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Immediate action needed to accommodate children with disabilities

New Age - December 31, 2011  

    

That accommodations for physically challenged students across the country, including the capital Dhaka, are far from adequate, may well be a poignant pointer to ruling quarters' general indifference towards mainstreaming this section of people in the society. According to a New Age report on Saturday, while, in the capital, only Jatiya Pratibandhi Unnayan Foundation has some special arrangement for physically challenged children, none but the government-run zila schools in different districts provide education for such students. Reportedly, the foundation provides food, lodging, special education and training to 30 hearing impaired children, 30 visually impaired and 30 mentally challenged children while all the zila schools have accommodations for a total of mere 640 students. Meanwhile, according to the 2011 census, the country currently has as many as 1.29 crore people with different sorts of disabilities. Moreover, the number of such kind of children around the country is about 16 lakh. Additionally, as the president of National Forum of Organisations Working with the Disabled pointed out, 66 per cent of them stay in rural areas where any arrangement for their education is even hard to think.

It is needless to overemphasise that education, among others, empowers an individual to face different challenges throughout his/her life effectively. Hence, without education any individual becomes virtually a burden of his/her family as well as society. Most importantly, it is all the more so when it comes to the physically challenged people. But, regrettably, successive governments, ever since independence, appear to have barely thought of this section of people while developing our existing education system, to say the least. To be specific, it is usually tough for people with different kinds of disabilities to cope with the normal mode of education. Also, in terms of infrastructure they need something different. But all this is at present largely absent in our education system. Needless to say, by maintaining an unrelenting indifference towards the necessity of these helpless people, the incumbent Awami League-Jatiya Party government, like its predecessors, is not only curbing the former's natural rights but also discriminating against them in violation of the constitution of the country.

Also, the indifferent attitude towards people with disabilities prevailing in society, perhaps, allows the government to remain so in the first place. Therefore, the conscious sections of the society, along with the media, need to become active against that indifference, in a sustained manner. Either way, the government needs to realise that it has been elected for the welfare of all sections of people that include the ones with disabilities. It immediately needs to come up with effective steps to turn our education system friendly, especially to those who are physically and mentally challenged.  

     

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A hostel for young tribal Buddhists and Christians, for the development of Bangladesh by Nozrul Islam

AsiaNews - Dhaka - December 29, 2011

Founded in 2006, Hill Child Home is located in the Bandarban Hill Tract and welcomes orphaned, abandoned, poor and disabled boys and girls. The Moon-Light K.G. School founded nearby, open to hostel residents and external students. According to its founder Mong Yeo Marma, a Buddhist, "education is the cornerstone of a state and access to study for all young people is the only way to change".

       

Building a new Bangladesh starting from children and young people. This is the aim of the Hill Child Home in Bandarban Hill Tract District, a hostel for tribal boys and girls initiated and directed by Buddhist Mong Yeo Marma. The house is located in Chittagong Division, south of the country. "Education - he tells AsiaNews - is the basis of everything, the starting point to create people who can change the country." Founded in 2006 it has since grown thanks to the donations of many Christians, even from Italy.

Today the house welcomes orphaned, abandoned and disabled tribal children. They are ethnic Marma, Chakma, Tripura, Khyang, Khumee, Buddhists and Christians. Next to the hostel a school was founded, open to both Home Child Hill residents and external students.

The Hill Home Child was born almost by accident, Mong Yeo says, when "a Buddhist monk friend of mine asked if I could help him with some tribal children who had received a sort of hostel. He spoke only Burmese and with the increase in numbers of the children could no longer handle the situation. Thus, in 2006 the hostel was born, and I took over the direction. "  

 

"I was born in the south (Chittagong Hill Tracts) - Mong Yeo says - and I grew up in an orphanage in the area. Then, I studied in Dhaka and I started working at the factory. In those years, a strong 'need' grew within me. The need to do something for others, but also to find my place in a society that welcomed me. " Being Buddhist and tribal, in a country where the majority of the population is Muslim and Bengali, means living on the margins. Muslims tend not to mix with those who follow another religion, while the Bengalis consider Buddhist tribals culturally inferior.

"This sense of frustration – he continues - is something you carry inside you from when you are small. This is why this hostel is so important. It provides opportunities for these kids to grow up in an environment where they feel welcome and accepted for who they are, where they can explore, discover and develop their talents, to learn respect for and the value of women. Even the tribal children are the future of this country and education plays a fundamental role. Only when the entire population is educated, can there be a real development of the state. Education is the cornerstone of a nation. "

The Hill Child Home is located in an area where previously there was only jungle. Over the years, thanks to donations, the Moon-Light KG School has been added to the hostel and it is attended by children of the house and from outside, employing eight teachers. The young people have cultivated a plantation of rubber trees in the grounds and have recently planted a field of ginger. The work in two crops, along with fishing, contributes to the costs of the entire structure. Mong Yeo Marma and his colleagues have also built a Christian chapel and a Buddhist temple in the grounds.  

  

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100 years jubilee of Bolakipur by fr. Anselmo Mardy

       

4th of Januraly was the memorable day of Mariampur parish. That day we celebrated 100 years jubilee of Bulakipur one of our village. We had taken preparation before two months for tht programe. There were also spiritual preparation. We were 12 priests and two bishops  in the jubilee Mas. About 550 people from different places were present. 

      

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Bangladesh at 40 - Part 4

The Star - December 16, 2011

    

Textiles - Reviving Ancient Traditions

Mustafa Zaman  

The art of weaving is one of the most ancient traditions that has existed since the beginning of civilisation. Handloom products and handicrafts have been a part of the Bangladeshi culture for centuries. Craftsmen have passed on their skills and knowledge from one generation to the next and it is this tradition that makes handmade items so coveted and exclusive. Bangladeshi crafts people have been renowned for the intricacy and artistry, which remains unparalleled and unique to this day.

According to the Bangladesh Hand Loom Board, there are about one million weavers, dyers, hand spinners, embroiderers and artisans in Bangladesh. These artistes use 300,000 looms and produce 620 million metres of fabric every year. This makes up 63 percent of the total fabric production in the country designed for local consumption and meets 40 percent of the local demand for fabrics. This industry also provides employment to about one million people in rural areas, most of whom are women. About half a million people are also indirectly employed by this sector, which contributes about ten billion takas yearly to the national exchequer as value addition.

One of the most well-known and desirable handloom fabrics produced in this country is the Jamdani, a version of the famous Dhaka Muslin or Mul-mul. Dhaka has been well known for over ten centuries because of this inimitable fabric, a material so fine and delicate that it has been said that it is woven with the "thread of the winds." Made on the loom with the finest cotton or silk yarn, this fabric bears exquisitely intricate designs embroidered or inlaid with gold, silver and silk threads. The Jamdani has been mentioned in Greek and Roman texts as one of the most coveted luxury items in the world.

The Rajshahi silk is another finely woven material-- soft and delicate silks that come in a variety of colourful shades, bold in their ethnic designs, which can be seen on the striking tough fabrics created by the tribal races from Sylhet, Cox's Bazaar and Rangamati.

The saris made in Dhaka, Tangail, Nobabgonj and Pabna, the Khadi/Khaddar products from Comilla, the Manipuri blankets from Sylhet, fabrics with intricate zari work known as brocade made in the Mirpur area in Dhaka, are also famous for their quality and beauty.

Lungi, gamcha, printed bed covers, pillow covers, tablemats, hand and kitchen towels, curtains, upholstery and furnishing fabrics are also produced in this industry.

Apart from the traditional handloom fabrics, Bangladesh also produces a new kind of cotton fabric, supplied by Grameen Bank, a non-government, rural oriented financial institution which named their product Grameen Check. Grameen Bank realised that most weavers who produced handloom fabrics in rural areas were unemployed due to stiff competition from machine-made products. Many of these weavers borrowed money from Grameen Bank and were moving away from their craft.

When Grameen discovered that Bangladesh spent about $ 80 million on imported fabric for their garments industry, they decided to play the role of supplier, hire weavers and started taking orders from the garment industry. They also ensured quality control and time management. The Grameen Check is now popular all over the country, in several European markets promoted by designer Bibi Russel, and has the potential, to penetrate other markets around the world.

Another novelty in the textile industry has been the revival of the use of natural dyes. This age-old practice had become almost extinct due to the introduction of artificial dyes in the market, which were faster, easier and cheaper to produce. However, in 1986, a remarkable woman known as Ruby Ghuznavi, who is now the Chairperson of the Natural Dye Programme of the World Crafts Council, rediscovered the use of natural dyes. Guided by her mentors she did extensive research with a team of experts and discovered 30 colour fast dyes, which singly, or combined can provide a wide range of colours, both bright and subdued.

Ghuznavi started a brand known Aranya Crafts and through this, introduced natural dyes into a niche market. Although not feasible for mass marketing, due to the lack of adequate raw materials and funding, these dyes are ideal for medium to small scale production and are popular due to their environmentally friendly nature. Following her example, many local brands have started using natural dyes, but Aranya's products stand unique due to their sole use of these dyes. It has been 20 years since Aranya was established, and it has trained and employed hundreds of craftspeople across Bangladesh, and organised and conducted a number of workshops in natural dyeing techniques in the UK, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Nepal.

The beauty in the handloom crafts of Bangladesh is that they can evolve with the changing times and fashions. The traditional Jamdanis now bear more modern geometrical patterns and designs; the silks are produced in bolder colours and patterns and are used to make tops and shalwar kameezes for the current generation. The Grameen Checks are used to make everything from saris and fatuas to shirts and dresses. The key is to keep the crafts alive by nurturing them and encouraging their development into something new.

     

Performing Arts - The Soul Food of Bengalis

Performing arts have been an integral part of Bengali culture and characteristics. Like the whips of the Persians or Moghuls, the canons of the British or the Pakistani tanks, Bengalis have always resorted to the weapons of music, dance and drama to resist oppression. In a free land today, talented Bangladeshis are constantly experimenting in the different branches of performing arts, adding more and more genres to their already rich culture and heritage.

After Liberation, the wave of rock music - a practice of constantly changing practices and styles of making music, not often following grammar and involving modern instruments- hit Bangladesh. Pop-guru and freedom fighter Azam Khan, along with Fakir Alamgir, Pilu Mamtaz, Ferdous Wahid, Firoze Shai introduced the pop-rock culture, presenting audience with simple and straightforward lyrics. The country witnessed the development of Bangla band music with Uccharon and Zinga Shilpi Goshthi setting the trend. Towards the beginning of the millennium more genres followed - metal, hard rock, alternative rock and folk fusion - saving Bengali listeners from the infiltration of Hindi film songs. Folk fusion brought the songs of the fields of Bangladesh to the urban youth familiarising them to their roots. Although this kind of music often attracts criticism from the more puritan quarters, it has nevertheless kept Bangla music alive. The evolution of these new genres of Bangla music has also contributed to the development of a thriving a music industry in Bangladesh.

Compared to other forms of art, dance in Bangladesh has made slower progress in the last 40 years. A notable change is the stress given on classical form of dance. This trend began in the 80s after many dancers returned from India with training from classical dance gurus. Besides, Bulbul Lalita Kala Academy that started in the 50s, dance schools solely dedicated to particular genres of classical dance - Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Manipuri, Odissi - began to evolve. Today's dancers are experimenting with different forms of dance creating East and West fusions. Dance-dramas have also gained popularity in recent years.

Leaving their weapons aside, some young freedom fighters took up guitars, while others focused on creating a theatre movement in Bangladesh. The year 1972 saw the emergence of Aranyak Natya Dal and the Dhaka University based theatre troupe Natyachakra. Nagorik Natya Sampradya, formed in 1968, became the pioneer of staging shows selling tickets in the 70s. The TSC auditorium at Dhaka University, Engineer Institute and British Council auditorium became popular theatre venues in Dhaka, followed by Mahila Samity, which, in fact, turned Bailey Road into a theatre street. Theatre'73, started in 1973 in Chittagong, led the way for more troupes in the city including Tirjak, Ganyam and Arindam. The most significant contribution to our theatre movement has been made by one of the pioneers of the Neo-Theatre movement and founder of Dhaka Theatre, Salim Al Deen. He incorporated the performance of traditional art forms into Bengali plays. He also developed a theatre terminology based on indigenous art forms, titled Bangla Natyakosh. The theatre movement reached out to the rural population in the 80s and collected indigenous art forms in theatre through the activities of the Gram Theatre and Mukta Natak. The practice of street plays also began in the 80s, giving birth to "rough plays" by SM Solaiman. Although theatre practice in Bangladesh is still at amateur level, theatre personalities have made their mark in the international arena. Veteran actor Ramendu Majumdar has been elected as the president of International Theatre Institute (ITI) worldwide for two consecutive terms.

 

BRAC - The World's Largest

Known formerly as the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee and then as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, BRAC, which is based in Bangladesh, is the largest NGO in the world.

Established by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed in 1972 soon after the independence of Bangladesh, BRAC currently has its centres in all 64 districts of Bangladesh, with over 7 million microfinance group members, 37,500 non-formal primary schools and more than 70,000 health volunteers. BRAC employs over 120,000 people, the majority of whom are women. BRAC operates programmes such as those in microfinance and education in nine countries across Asia and Africa, reaching more than 110 million people. The organisation is eighty percent self-funded through a number of commercial enterprises that include a dairy and food project and a chain of retail handicraft stores called 'Aarong'. BRAC maintains offices in 14 countries throughout the world.

The most commendable side of BRAC is its focus on women empowerment. Among their numerous praiseworthy efforts, BRAC's centres for adolescents called Kishori Kendra provides reading materials and serves as a gathering place for adolescents where they are educated about issues sensitive to the Bangladeshi society. In 1996, BRAC started a programme in collaboration with the Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK) and Bangladesh National Women Leader's Association (BNWLA) to empower women to protect themselves from social discrimination and exploitation and to encourage and assist them to take action when their rights are violated. BRAC also offers external services such as access to lawyers or the police either through legal aid clinics, by helping women report cases at the local police station or when seeking medical care in the case of acid victims.

BRAC works on a range of issues, including education, health, agriculture and food security, social and legal services and community empowerment. It is a shining example of the country's progress and efforts to be better and rather self- reliant as opposed to Bangladesh's trademark as a country in debt and in need of external support.

 

Judiciary - Hoping for a separation

Shakhawat Liton

The principle of judicial independence rests on the idea of separation of governmental powers: executive, legislative and judicial. Bangladesh's Constitution, which came into force on December 16, 1972 upholds the principle of separation of the state power by announcing it as one of the fundamental principles of state policy. The Constitution in article 22 puts on the state the responsibility to ensure separation of the judiciary from executive organs of the state.

Maintaining conformity with that fundamental principle, the original article 116 of the 1972 constitution vested the control of the lower judiciary in the Supreme Court. It was the Supreme Court that had the control including the power of postings, promotions and granting of leaves, and of disciplining the persons employed in judicial service, and the magistrates exercising judicial functions.

The Supreme Court also had a major role to play regarding appointments to the lower judiciary as the article 115 of the original 1972 constitution stipulated that district judges would be appointed by the president on recommendation from the Supreme Court, and all other civil judges and magistrates exercising judicial functions would be appointed by the president in accordance with the rules made by himself or herself in consultation with the Public Service Commission and the Supreme Court.

Things were moving in the right direction in the newly born country with its Constitution outlining the powers of three branches of the state. But the Constitution's fourth amendment passed in 1975 upset the entire outline over the separation of the state power. The nefarious amendment brought drastic changes to articles 115 and 116, pushing the matter in the opposite direction. It vested the control over the lower judiciary in the president who was also empowered to make the appointments, in effect allowing the executive branch to control the lower judiciary.

Later, a martial law regime led by Ziaur Rahman in 1978 amended the constitution through a martial law proclamation inserting a new phrase in article 116 that returned to the Supreme Court some little power regarding control and discipline of the lower judiciary. But it did not improve the situation. And since then none of the successive governments took steps to separate judiciary from the executive in light of the fundamental principle of state policy.

Things, however, started taking a different shape when the High Court on May 7 of 1997, in response to a writ petition, delivered a historic verdict with 12 point directives to ensure separation of judiciary. But the then government refused to implement the court's directives and preferred to file appeal against it.

In disposing of the appeal, the Appellate Division on December 2 of 1999 delivered its order bringing some modification to the HC verdict. But the successive governments since then took extension of times to complete the necessary tasks in line with the court's directives to ensure separation of judiciary.

Finally, the military backed Caretaker Government took a positive stance. The lower judiciary was officially separated from the executive branch on November 1, 2007 following the Appellate Division's directives. Laws were amended and new rules were framed for that purpose as well.

However, the constitution was not amended to ensure effective separation. As a result the executive branch still controls postings and promotions of judicial officials, albeit "in consultation with the Supreme Court".

In its verdict on the constitution's fifth amendment case, the Appellate Division has rightly said: "Independence of the judiciary, which is one of the basic features of the constitution, will not be fully achieved unless the articles [115 and 116] are restored to their original position."

The two articles were not restored to their original position in the latest constitutional amendment, leaving the hope for an effective separation of the judiciary in a state of uncertainty.

Now the government should reassess its political stance over the separation of judiciary and should come forward with liberal mind. The partisan government should keep it in mind that judicial independence is an important value in any democratic system of government and without ensuring this independence no government can claim itself democratic.  

       

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CHINA

Two Chinese bishop martyrs recognised as 'Illustrious Unknown' for 2011 by Bernardo Cervellera

AsiaNews - Rome - December 30, 2011

Mgr James Su Zhimin, 80, has done 40 years in prison; Mgr Cosma Shi Enxiang, 90, has spent 50 years. No one talks about them whilst the Chinese government says it "does not know where they are". Many fear they might die under torture as other bishops have done before. The Vatican should demand their release as a condition for dialogue. A campaign is launched on their behalf in 2012.

          

At the end of the year, many magazines and Websites publish a list of people who made the news in 2011 one way or the other. Usually, they are people from the world of politics or culture; sometimes, groups are recognised. For instance, this year Time Magazine picked protesters as 'Person of the Year', the young people of the Arab spring and the demonstrators of the world.

At AsiaNews, we want to go against convention and pick someone who has never been cited by the media, someone who has never had any public recognition, someone who has been forgotten despite years of struggle for the truth, dignity and justice; in other words, the 'Illustrious Unknown'. Like Time, our 'Person of the Year' is collective, namely two Chinese bishops from the underground Church arrested by police decades ago and not heard ever since.

The first one is Mgr James Su Zhimin (pictured, right), the almost 80-year-old bishop of Baoding (Hebei), arrested by police on 8 October 1997. Since then, nothing has been known about the charges that led to his arrest, or his trial and place of detention. In November 2003, he was seen in a Beijing hospital surrounded by public security officers. After a quick visit by relatives, he was taken away and disappeared without a trace.

The second case is that of Mgr Cosma Shi Enxiang (pictured, left), 90, bishop of Yixian (Hebei), who was arrested on 13 April 2001. Nothing is known about his fate either, even though his relatives and parishioners continue to ask police for information about him.

The two deserve to be remembered alongside other famous dissidents, like Nobel Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo and the great Bao Tong, because they have been fighting for the freedom of the individual and their faith for far longer. In a certain sense, they are the dissidents' prophets. They were the first to suffer persecution, the first to be arrested and convicted, the first to appeal to the international community and the first to be forgotten.

Before his last arrest, Mgr Su Zhimin spent at least 26 years in prison or forced labour camps. Labelled a "counterrevolutionary" in the 1950s, he has always refused to join the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, whose goal is to set up a national Church separate from the pope. In 1996, from a secret location because he was a wanted man, he issued an open letter to the Chinese government demanding respect for human rights and religious freedom. Overall, he spent 40 years in prison.

Mgr Shi Enxiang spent even more time in jail. Between 1957 and 1980, he was held in a forced labour farm in Heilongjiang as well as coal mine in Shanxi. He was re-arrested in 1983 and held under house arrest for three years. Again, he was arrested in 1989, when underground bishops set up their own Bishops' Conference, and held until 1993. In 2001, he was detained once more. Altogether, he has spent 51 years in prison.

As social unrest spreads across China over justice and dignity for workers and peasants, it is worth remembering these champions because they fought like them and before them for the truth, without taking up arms, often alone, without the comfort of social networks like Facebook or Twitter.

It is worth remembering them because the Chinese regime could let them die under torture, as it did with other jailed Chinese bishops (Mgrs Joseph Fan Xueyan in 1992, John Gao Kexian in 2006 and John Han Dingxian in 2007).

It is also worth remembering them in order to show how ridiculous the Chinese government is when it tells world political leaders who enquire about the fate of the two bishops: "We don't know". Can anyone believe a government with a huge police apparatus, a superb spy network and a system of tight control over the population when it says it does not know the fate of two old bishops, who would otherwise receive respect and honour as required in Chinese culture?

"We don't know" is also what the Vatican is told when its representatives asks about the bishops' fate in private meetings with Chinese officials. Fearful that they might suffer an even worse fate, their names are never mentioned in the prayers for the persecuted.

The Vatican's mild approach in its dialogue with Chinese authorities has not led to the bishops' release, or that of the dozens of underground priests languishing in China's laogai camps.

We hope the Vatican Commission on the Church in China will make their release a condition for any further dialogue. We call on everyone, Christian or not, to remember these two champions of the faith, truth and human dignity. They get our recognition and especially our gratitude. For this reason, we want to start 2012 with a campaign in their favour.  

    

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EGYPT

The Copts fear the "protection" of the army, which turns on NGOs

AsiaNews - Cairo - December 30, 2011

Fears of new attacks against churches in the celebrations at the end of the year and Orthodox Christmas. Muslim Brotherhood announced their commitment to protect Christians. Military raid against 17 foreign NGOs engaged in human rights. Blocked all funds and transactions. Caritas among the associations. Spokesman for the Catholic Church "The soldiers think only of themselves and protect their power."

    

The Arab Spring is increasingly being betrayed by the authorities. About 10 months after the fall of the Mubarak regime, sources tell AsiaNews that there is an atmosphere of instability and fear in the country. In view of the end of year festivities and the Orthodox Christmas (January 6), the Coptic community fears new attacks against the churches, similar to those that occurred after the New Year of 2011 in Alexandria and in 2010 at Nag Hammadi (Luxor). Tensions have been increased by continuous military statements about the presence of unspecified external forces interested in wreaking havoc in the country before January 25, the anniversary of the Jasmine revolution.

In recent days, Kiryllos, Coptic Orthodox Bishop of Nag Hammadi appealed to General Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), asking that safety be guaranteed during the celebrations. "I have received several bomb threats against my diocese - he says - and I asked the police to protect the community." Yesterday, the SCAF assured maximum protection for Copts. Even the Muslim Brotherhood, winners of the first two rounds of parliamentary elections, have responded to the bishop's call. In a statement posted yesterday on their site, they announced they will collaborate with the military in maintaining security around Coptic churches during the holiday.

On New Year's Eve 2011 in Alexandria, a car bomb exploded during a Mass of the Coptic community, killing 21 people. Because of the attack clashes erupted between Christians and Muslims, but it turned out that the attack was orchestrated by the secret services of Habib el-Adly, the interior minister of the Mubarak government. On January 6, 2010, an armed commando opened fire on a group of faithful of the church of Saint John in Nag Hammadi, killing seven people. At the time the police had ignored repeated requests for protection of the Coptic communities. No policeman was on guard at the time of the attack.

Because of this the Christians have little confidence in the army, tied to the old regime. Fr. Greich Rafiq, spokesman for the Egyptian Catholic Church, said that "the army thinks only of its own interests and protecting its own power and not the values of the revolution."

An example of this attitude is the recent military raids in the offices of 17 human rights organizations funded by the United States, European Union and other foreign countries. They are accused of not having permission to work in the country.

"The military - said the priest - have raided the offices seizing computers, documents and blocking all accounts. They are justified in arguing that these organizations were financing parties and movements threatening the stability of the country. " Among the groups targeted are: Caritas, the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the Arab Center for Independence and Justice. According to Father Greich the army fears the future presidential elections of 25 January and dictatorial methods used to extinguish any form of dissent.  

   

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One year after the massacre of Christians in Alexandria, Egypt seeks a way forward by André Azzam

AsiaNews - Cairo - December 12, 2011    

The persecution against Christians mingled with violence against the Arab revolution. In a year more than 1000 dead, thousands injured, 1200 have lost one or both eyes, because the police shoot at eye level. The interim government has not kept its many promises of equality between Christians and Muslims, but here and there are signs of growing alliances, mutual respect and friendship.

          

One year has passed since the terrible massacre in the Church of the Two Saints, in Alexandria on New Year's eve last year, which left more than twenty dead and a hundred wounded. One year later the facts regarding those responsible for committing this horrible crime are no clearer. There have been rumours which assert that it was the ministry of internal affairs who ordered the attack, but no investigation results have so far been published. Yesterday, the last Friday of the year, the protestant church called for a peaceful demonstration in Tahrir square to commemorate this anniversary, asking people to come with armed only with candles and no other religious symbol. A large demonstration led by Shaykh Mazhar Shaheen processed from Omar Makram mosque in Midan al Tahrir up to the Evangelical Church of Qasr al Doubara, one street behind Midan al Tahrir to celebrate the Chrismas and New Year'eve feasts.

Three weeks after last New Year's eve attack the January 25 revolution exploded, and since then many difficult events have succeeded each other making it a hard time for the population, and mainly for Egyptian Christians. In fact, the Alexandria massacre took place less than a year after the violent attack at Nag Hammadi, in Upper Egypt on the eve of the Coptic Christmas celebrations, on the 7th of January 2010, which left seven dead and many wounded. And less than two months after clashes over a church construction in the suburb of Giza, next to Cairo, that left two dead and many wounded.

Early in March 2011, the Church of the Two Martyrs in Sol, next to Helwan, in the southern suburb of Cairo, was set on fire killing two people died. The motive for the arson attack was a forbidden love affaire between a Christian young man and a Muslim girl. The two fathers died in a quarrel, then the Muslim population burned the church. The Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) decided to rebuild the church which was ready for Easter one month later.

During March the awful virginity test was imposed on young women arrested by the authorities.

On Saturday, March 7, two churches in Imbaba, in a western suburb of Cairo, were attacked by fundamentalist mobs, with the result of a dozen Christians killed and the burning of the two churches. This suburb had once been termed 'the Islamic Republic of Imbaba'.

In June 2011 a long awaited draft bill on building permits for places of worship both for Islam and Christianity was brought before parliament. But still today, this law has not been implemented.

On June 29, a vast confrontation between demonstrators and police forces left more than one thousand wounded. Again, on July 23, another confrontation resulted in more than two hundred wounded.

On September 30th, a church in Marinab village, in Asswan governorate was raised by Muslim fundamentalists who had decided to eradicate the village church by first pretending it was a new construction, than demanding it remove its crosses and the domes and finally burning the church, and many households belonging to the Christian population, without any protection from the civil authorities, rather, on the contrary with the obvious blessing of Asswan governor.

On Sunday October 9, a Christian demonstration began in Cairo to demand equal rights for Christians and justice for the Marinab village church. Numerous Muslim demonstrators were joined their Christian compatriots. What took place was a veritable slaughter which has now become known as the 'Maspero massacre' : The army attacked demonstrators resulting in 25 people dead and 350 wounded, many of them crushed under the wheels of advancing armoured vehicles. The state television located on Maspero Avenue launched

an appeal that verged on a call to civil war appealing to the population to come and protect the armed forces 'savagely attacked by Christian demonstrators'. Three soldiers were reported dead, but in the end revealed to be only lightly wounded.

On October 10, the culprit of Nag Hamadi attack of January 7, 2010, who had been sentenced to death, was executed.

Then came the protests of Mohammad Mahmoud Street on November 19 (see 21/11/2011 Egypt, toll rises from Tahrir Square clashes: 30 dead and thousands injured), and later in mid December, the demonstrations and sit-in around the Parliament and the Ministers Council buildings (see 17/12/2011 Egypt: clashes between the army and demonstrators continue in front of the Houses of Parliament), with a heavey toll of dead and wounded.

In just one year, more than one thousand people have died, thousands of more wounded, an estimated one thousand two hundred people lost one or both eyes, and probably twelve thousand demonstrators were arrested and judged by military courts. Many political personnalities and well-known journalists have also been summoned and mistreated.

It is reported that since last March, one hundred thousand Christian Egyptians have left the country emigrating to different destinations. Many people among the Christian community, and among the poorest of them, would now like to apply for religious asylum in countries like the USA, Canada, or Australia.

Recently many bishops reported to have received threatening letters to prevent them from celebrating the New Year and Christmas. Pope Shenouda III, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church replied two days ago that 'we do not fear any threats and we shall celebrate the feasts', though everybody knows that the celebrations will be restricted inside churches and earlier than the usual midnight masses. The Catholic Church, which celebrates Christmas in Cairo, Alexandria and Lower Egypt on the December 25, had all the masses between 7 and 9p.m. All the churches were surrounded by police forces, which will be the same for the Orthodox Christmas on the eve of January 7.

'Christmas is celebrated this year in Egypt in a state of 'sad joy' because of the general situation: sadness, because the year that passed has been a severe one not only for Christians but also for Muslims. From the massacre of the Two Saints' church in Alexandria last year to the battle at the Ministers Council, through the Maspero massacre and the hard economic situation, all of this has left a wounded and suffering Egyptian society as Fr Rafic Greiche, official spokesman of the Catholic Church in Egypt, stated yesterday.

'On the other hand, added Fr Greiche, we must preserve some joy, because every Egyptian is still full of hope that the difficulties and obstacles will be resolved little by little in building a new democratic state in this land that once sheltered Jesus and the Holy Family, where dignity, justice and equality should prevail for everyone'.

On this point, many political experts consider that the parliamentary elections have really attracted the majority of the population who felt for the first time they were really participating in their political duty and right. But many of them are still critical feeling that it was more a religious election than a democratic one, since no-one stopped the parties from using religious slogans when it was strictly forbidden.

An anecdotal gag was bandied about during the election campaign which went: 'Women electors and men electors, whatever your religion, please vote for the salafist islamic party al-Noor. If you are Muslim, you shall go to Paradise. If you are Christian, you shall go [flee] to Canada!'

But there were also many positive reactions, mainly from the well known slogan of the 1919 revolution of the famous leader Saad Zaghloul, founder of the Wafd party that says 'Religion is for God, and Homeland is for all'. The design of the Cross and the Crescent intertwined is more and more obviously brandished. Let us recall that in mid October the SCAF adopted a draft law incriminating discrimination and violence, which is usually aimed at Christians and women. But still, we have to see if this law is really being implemented in the daily life. On the other hand many people are reacting to Muslim preachers on Fridays correcting what they feel is an open attack against Christians, among whom, mainly Nawwara Negm, daughter of the famous anarchist poet Ahmad Fouad Negm, and strong activist since the beginning of the January revolution.

A young Christian student in the end of primary course, Myriam Armanios (11-12 years old) wrote two days ago on Facebook : 'Like you, I have the right to celebrate my feasts'. More than 3 thousand pupils sustained her as well as the Maspero Youth Federation. A demonstration was organized in front of the ministry of education to protest against the fixed dates for midyear exams on the 1st and the 8th of January [the Coptic Christmas period]. The minister of education decided immediately to postpone the examinations for a couple of days later.

After the Lotus or Jasmin or Spring revolution, many promises were made by the government but none were achieved : like putting the minimum salary up to 750 Egyptian Pounds (a little less than 100 euros per month); offering a pension to the 'martyrs' of the revolution and the 'martyrs' of Maspero massacre; offering free medical care and treatment for all the wounded of the revolution and of Maspero massacre; an end to bringing civilians before military courts; adjusting the price of petrol to the standard prices in Spain, Turkey, Israel and Jordan; organizing impartial investigations into the Maspero, Mohammad Mahmoud street and Council of Minister massacres, as well as many other economic promises: until now none of these have been kept, provoking a general state of disillusionment.

Another point is the looming anniversary of the January 25th revolution: is the SCAF ready to let demonstrators gather? is the official press and media, as well as the interim government ready to stop accusing demonstrators of being agents and agitators manipulated by foreign powers? These last two days about twenty NGOs involved in human rights were raided, their computers seized and they were accused of being illegally financed by abroad.

Faced with this old approach to this important juncture, many observers express that the old regime is still active. As expressed by Pr Ezzeddine Shukry, professor of political science: 'A regime that is not yet over, in front of a revolution that is not yet broken'.

We have to point out finally that the blogger Alaa Abd al Fattah, arrested in November and accused of criminal acts during Maspero massacre, has finally been released on probation in his flat, until a further judgement. Another positive act was the administrative court that stopped the virginity test imposed on young women arrested by the armed forces.

Pr Shukry perfecttly expresses the feeling among the general population when he says, 'the situation is confused for the moment, but we must keep hope for the future, because the revolution movement has not been overcome, it is still active and will never be defeated'. He considers the many martyrs as a source of positive inspiration for the movement, and he brings as a symbol of hope of the dentist Ahmad Sharara, who lost one eye on the 28th of January and the second eye on 19th of November and who states : 'Better to live blind with honour and dignity than to live with my sight despondent and blinkered'.

Demonstrators in Tahrir square yesterday refused to join an anti-protest march led by the army and the officials, thus refusing to join hands with the people hailing the expelled former president Mubarak. And still leaders of the political and youth movements have called for a huge gathering on this New Year's eve in Tahrir square from 8p.m. until 2 a.m. to respond to the appeal first launched by the woman journalist Gamila Ismaďl to celebrate the Christian New Year by candle light with Coptic Hymns and Muslim Soufi prayers animated by famous singers like male singer Ali al Haggar and the beautiful Azza Balbaa.

     

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INDIA

Indian anti-graft campaigner calls off fast

SouthAsia OneWorld – December 29, 2011

          

Activist Anna Hazare called off his three day hunger strike for a strong anti-corruption legislation due to ill-health and low turnout at Mumbai campaign site. The bill is now pending for approval in the upper house of the Indian parliament.

Ailing Indian anti-graft activist Anna Hazare called off his planned three-day hunger strike for a strong anti-graft law as the government struggled to pass the controversial bill in parliament.

Addressing the media at the venue of his fast in Mumbai, Hazare, 74, said on Wednesday that he had decided to call off his fast for health reasons and for the way in which a "weak" bill was being pushed through parliament.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Lok Sabha, or lower house, of parliament passed a bill to create an anti-corruption ombudsman, in a move the government hopes will deflate Hazare's protest movement.

The bill was passed after a rowdy debate, with the main opposition party voting against it and several others walking.

out. It may now be held up in the upper house, where the government coalition does not have a majority.

In a sign of the rough ride the legislation will likely get in the upper house, the government failed to get the two-thirds majority it needed to make the bill a constitutional amendment.

The bill, which would create an independent Lokpal, or ombudsman, to investigate corruption among senior politicians and civil servants, had been condemned as weak and ineffectual by critics.

Hazare wants the ombudsman to have greater powers to investigate high-ranking officials. "The government has become blind and that is why we have to repeatedly fast," Hazare said on Monday. "This government is only after money and power."  

     

'Tough action'

Al Jazeera's Prena Suri, reporting from Mumbai, said: "While a lot of Indians still support Hazare's movement, there's been a shift in debate. Many more are questioning his method and they say parliament should be allowed to debate and make laws."

Suri continued: "Instead, Hazare's constant threats are pushing the government in passing an important piece of legislation without a proper debate. The perception is that he wants his version of an anti-corruption bill to be passed, rather than a strong and sane one."

A similar protest by Hazare in August had galvanised millions of people who took to the streets of cities across the country in a spontaneous outpouring of anger and frustration with the widespread corruption that blights their daily lives.

The main points of contention focus on the ambit of the ombudsman's office and its powers of investigation which Hazare says are "an attempt to fool the country without actually taking tough action".

The government bill offers only limited jurisdiction over the prime minister and requires the ombudsman to put any criminal probes in the hands of the federal investigative agency, the Criminal Bureau of Investigation.

Activists want the ombudsman's office to have its own, independent investigative team.

With key state elections looming, Hazare has threatened to take his protest to those regions going to the polls, and tens of thousands of his supporters have vowed a campaign of civil disobedience if the bill is passed in its present form.

Many see a new national hero in Hazare, who models himself on India's independence icon Mahatma Gandhi, but critics see an autocrat who uses undemocratic methods to force his views on parliament and offers false hopes that a single law can end corruption in Asia's third-largest economy.  

   

Political blackmail

Our correspondent says Hazare's action could be perceived as political blackmail, but his supporters say that without this pressure, the government would have never pushed for a debate in the parliament.

"Remember, the Lokpal Bill was first introduced in 1968 and since then successive governments haven't shown the political will to pass it," she said.

"The government is also very nervous about the impact these protests will have on the forthcoming state elections next year as Hazare has threatened to campaign against the ruling Congress party. So, in that sense, there is some duress which the government is under."

Hundreds of people gathered in advance of Hazare's public fast at an open recreation ground in Mumbai, where security was tight with several thousand police deployed.

Shobha Keeny, a Hazare supporter, told Al Jazeera: "Right from getting a ration card to getting a passport to even getting your basic rights, you have to pay a bribe in this country. That's why we need this law."

Phoolsingh Maurya, a 70-year-old former head teacher, said public frustration with the government and official corruption had reached breaking point.

"We have come to the stage where this government has to go. We cannot tolerate corruption for decades," he said.  

   

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Save the Indian 'anganwadi' by Rakesh Kumar

SouthAsia OneWorld – December 28, 2011  

     

World's largest community based Indian child development scheme is crumbling in the western state of Rajasthan with low enrolment of children and mothers, scarce infrastructure and non qualified staff.

It's a rented room measuring 8X8 square feet with 11 children sitting on the floor. They are eagerly waiting for their 'nutritious' afternoon meal of dalia (porridge made of coarsely ground wheat or corn), being prepared by a young girl in one corner of this already crammed space, which also accommodates sacks of semolina and rice stacked up against one wall. Once the food is served, the children wolf it down immediately. Some don't seem to like the taste very much but they eat it anyway. After the meal, the class reconvenes. In a sing-song voice Anas Imamuddin, 8, leads the others as they recite their numbers... 1, 2, 3, the counting goes on.

This is just another day at the Amagarh anganwadi centre in a locality in Jaipur, the state capital of Rajasthan. Located in Parvat Colony behind Bajri Mandi it caters to this slum that is largely Muslim. The anganwadi worker (AWW) Sonu Prajapat and her anganwadi helper, Asha Devi, are nowhere to be seen. It's Asha's daughter, Kamla, 11, who is minding the children today. According to the landlady next door, Pratibha Jat, who has rented out the premises at Rs 750 (US$1=Rs 52) per month, this is pretty much how things function here.

When asked why Asha isn't on duty, Kamla informs us that her mother has gone somewhere with the anganwadi registers and offers no other details. Kamla adds that though she studies in a nearby government school cuts class as and when she has to fill in for her mother.

      

-Hands tied

Anganwadi centres were set up under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) to combat child hunger and malnutrition. It is considered to be the world's largest community-based child development programme. These centres will have to play a key role if the National Food Security Bill is to be effective.

According to government guidelines, an AWW, usually a woman from within the community, is not only trained to provide supplementary nutrition to both children below six years as well as pregnant and nursing women, they are also expected to give antenatal and postnatal care, organise pre-school activities and provide health and nutritional education to families.

Sounds like a perfect scheme to fight India's endemic child malnourishment? One only needs to step into the rural Anganwadi Centre No. 2 at Shivdaspura, 20 kilometres south of Jaipur district headquarters, to bust all myths. Run from a single room, this centre caters to 18 women (nine pregnant and nine lactating), 20 children in the age group of 0-3 years; 15 between 3-6 years, and 40 adolescent girls, according to Uma Sain, the in-charge AWW.

Due to a paucity of space, the daily hot meal is not cooked here - a local self help group prepares it at home and brings it over. Space constraints have also meant that the supplementary nutrition rations to be given to the community have to be ferried from the block office on the day the 'take home' ration is distributed. Moreover, Sain maintains one register with details of the enrolled women and children - as opposed to the 10 she is required to fill in - and has nothing to show in terms of the monthly growth chart of the children. Shivdaspura, unfortunately, is not an exception but the rule.

    

-Low enrolment

A recent study, 'Rajasthan Mein Anganwadi Kendron Ki Sthiti - Ek Adhyayan', released by the Jaipur-based Resource Institute For Human Rights (RIHR), gives greater clarity on this dismal situation. Sample this: In Rajasthan, only 29% children between 0-6 years benefit from the ICDS. For pregnant and lactating women, the percentage is a little higher but still unsatisfactory - out of 18.1 lakh women enrolled, only 8.3 lakh - or 46% - are reaping any benefits from this intervention.

The RIHR study, conducted from July to October 2010, covers 144 villages in eight blocks of Hanumangarh, Sirohi, Churu and Tonk districts. Says RIHR's Vijay Goyal, "Quite a few problems have emerged. One, there is a huge shortage of Child Development and Protection Officers (CDPOs) in the state. Second, the ones that have been recruited do not inspect anganwadi centres (AWCs) regularly. The poor educational qualifications of the AWWs is another problem. Out of the 144 centres we surveyed, only 70 had AWWs who had studied up to Class 8."

The CDPO crisis is quite grave. One CDPO is in-charge of one block, which has 300 to 400 AWCs under it. But the study shows that 87% CDPOs in Nohar block (Hanumangarh), 86% in Deoli-Uniyara (Tonk) and 70% in Sangria-Tibbi (Hanumangarh) had not gone for an inspection in three months (during the study period). Their argument is that a shortage of manpower makes it impossible for them to go to every centre in their block, most of which are far away from the block ICDS office.

Ashok Khandelwal, advisor to the Supreme Court Commissioners in Right to Food case - filed in the Supreme Court (SC) by the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) in 2001 - also sees the shortage of CDPOs and supervisors as the biggest problem in implementation of the ICDS in Rajasthan. "As of November 18, 2011, out of 304 sanctioned CDPO posts, 125 are vacant - that's 41% vacancy," reveals Khandelwal, who has done a study of 10 urban AWCs and is in the process of compiling the data.

Besides the personnel shortages, there are not enough AWCs to provide adequate coverage. In 2004, the SC, in its interim order in Right to Food case, directed the Government of India to increase the number of AWCs from six lakh to 14 lakh. In Rajasthan, the number should be 70,000, but there are only 52,541 AWCs and 4,358 mini-AWCs.

Khandelwal also observes that as most AWWs are illiterate, they are unable to maintain proper registers at the centres. While earlier, each AWW was required to maintain at least 14 registers, the number is now down to 10, but even that requirement cannot be met, as we saw at the Shivdaspura AWC.

Space shortage is another major problem. "Ideally, there should be three rooms - one kitchen, one store and one hall for children to sit and study and eat. There should also be a proper playground for them," says Khandelwal. But most AWCs operate out of small, one-room units. In fact, as of November 2011 there are 1,098 AWCs being run from the home of the AWW.

These systemic and personnel inadequacies have seriously undermined the efficacy on this crucial scheme. In Rajasthan, malnutrition among children under the age of 3 years stands at 44%, as per the National Family Health Survey - III (conducted in 2005-2006). In comparison, the national figure is 40.9%. Out of total children weighed at the AWCs across the state in September 2011, 41.6% were malnourished and 0.55% severely malnourished. In Vitamin A supplementation, Rajasthan is second lowest in the country at 16% among children aged 12 to 35 months; while 79.1% children aged 6-35 months suffer from anaemia.

Clearly, the ICDS has not worked in Rajasthan. Besides the coverage, which is far from universal, the quality of services is poor as well. But all is not lost. Khandelwal suggests linking the ICDS with schools to maximise the impact of the scheme. "This," he believes, "will solve two problems: One, it will take care of double enrollments (many children in the 3-6 years age group are enrolled both with government schools and the anganwadi centres); second, anganwadis would become centres for preschool education. It can then be made a part in the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act as well."

    

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The modern Herod who kills children and violates religious freedom by Nirmala Carvalho

AsiaNews - Mumbai - December 28, 2011

Card. Oswald Gracias, president of the Bishops' Conference of India, on the feast of Holy Innocents. Feticide and female infanticide, anti-Christian persecution and corruption destroy Christ and human life.

 

In today's society "the modern Herod is anyone who practices female feticide and infanticide, who limits religious freedom and abuses human rights" reflected Card. Oswald Gracias, president of the Indian Bishops' Conference and archbishop of Mumbai, on the Feast of Holy Innocents, which is celebrated today.

According to the cardinal, also secretary general of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), "those who kill female fetuses are afraid of God and women. Anyone who allows money to become his god. In the minds of these people, there is the belief that women are only an economic problem. Our Lord came to bring abundant life, and I think anyone who limits the possibilities of life, is like Herod. Today, people are afraid to let other people live. "

Persecution of Christians in India commemorates the martyrdom of the innocents in Bethlehem. "Whoever violates religious freedom - continued Card. Gracias -, attacks Christians because they believe in Jesus and in our Lord. Those people who suppress human rights, foster corruption and follow materialism, are destroying the life of Christ. "

One of the most recent cases of religious persecution against Christians was that of Khander Mani Khanna, pastor of All Saints Anglican Church in Kashmir, arrested for having baptized seven young Muslims on November 19 last. Among many problems - including a heavy boycott and defamation campaign by the Legal Association of Jammu and Kashmir - Rev. Khanna was released on bail on December 1 last, but currently can no longer carry out his mission.

Rev. Khanna's difficulties have not finished yet, also because of his weak state of health. "This year's Christmas - his son tells AsiaNews - was not like other years. The churches of Srinagar and Gulmarg have not had a pastor. There were no songs, nor have we been able to receive communion, because the man who led the service is not yet ordained. We have no organized lunch, because my father diabetes has worsened".

Even the young men baptised by Rev. Khanna are facing various difficulties. Sajan K George, President of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), tells AsiaNews: "I met three of them on December 10 last, the World Day for Human Rights. Together with Rev. Khanna we made a small prayer service. But these young people fear for their lives and feel in danger, there are great social and religious pressures on them to return to Islam. "

A case in point, says the president of the GCIC, "is the most painful. One young man worked as a security guard, but after his conversion had to give up his badge, thus losing his job. In addition, he has been the victim of inhuman beatings, his ear was actually burned. "  

    

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IRAQ

Next year, Christmas will be a civic holiday in Kirkuk by Joseph Mahmoud

AsiaNews - Kirkuk - December 27, 2011

The city's governor, Najim al-din Umar Karim, announced the decision. He also said he would urge the central government to make 25 December a national holiday. More than 2,000 faithful take part in Christmas Mass. Muslim religious leaders express their best wishes. The governor urges Christians who fled abroad to come back to Iraq.

        

The governor of Kirkuk, Najim al-din Umar Karim, said that Christmas would be a civic holiday next year for the entire city. He made his decision public whilst expressing his best wishes to Chaldean bishop Louis Sako and local Christians attending Christmas Mass in the city's cathedral. He also said he would urge the national government to make Christmas a national holiday for all Iraqis.

The rich city of Kirkuk has been the scene of violence, often against Christians. Despite that, the city's archbishop told AsiaNews that about 2,000 people took part in Christmas Mass, held during daytime for security reasons. A nativity scene in the form of a Bedouin tent (pictured) was set up at the entrance of the church to symbolise the coming of Jesus to Iraq.

In a sign of the desire for coexistence, all secular authorities (municipal, military and police) and Muslim religious leaders came to the cathedral to express their best wishes for Christmas.

Addressing the people present at the ceremony, the governor of Kirkuk praised the mission of Jesus Christ, the 'Prince of Peace'. He urged Christians who fled the country (600,000) to come back to Iraq.

"Without them, Iraq will be missing something substantial," said Najim al-din Umar Karim, who praised Archbishop Sako for his support for Christian-Muslim dialogue. "Without them, Iraq won't be Iraq," he added.

Meanwhile Sunni-Shia tensions increased following the attempt to arrest Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni from the al-Iraqiyya Party, for allegedly supporting terrorism.

His party, the largest Sunni group, has decided to boycott parliament, accusing Prime Minister al-Maliki, a Shia, of trying to monopolise power.

Tensions between Sunnis and Shias appear to be the reason for renewed terrorist attacks in the capital.

Yesterday, seven people were killed and another 27 wounded when a car bomb exploded near the Interior Ministry. Last Thursday, a series of coordinated attacks killed 70 people.  

         

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MALAYSIA

Migrant labor rights are human rights  

Ucanews - December 26, 2011  

Malaysia must respect migrant workers as they do any other workers

       

For the many Malaysians who depend on foreign domestic workers, it is good news that the 28-month ban barring new Indonesian domestic workers from taking up employment here has been lifted.

Malaysian households now employ over 230,000 domestic workers, 90 percent of whom are from Indonesia. The domestic workers care for children and elderly, and do various domestic chores that most Malaysians are no longer willing to do.

The ban by the Indonesian government was imposed in June 2009 after a series of high-profile abuse cases reported in the media of both countries. This sparked anti-Malaysia riots in Jakarta and strained relations between the two neighbouring countries.

Then in October this year, Cambodia announced that it would suspend the sending of new domestic workers to Malaysia following several reports of deaths of young Cambodian women under suspicious circumstances.

Both bans had a debilitating effect on Malaysian households. At the same time, employment in Malaysia provides a lifeline to many young women and their families, who otherwise are unable to make ends meet in their own countries. This is so even when the wages in Malaysia for domestic workers (US$130-$200) remains among the lowest in the region.

With the lifting of the ban by Indonesia on December 1, following a new agreement between the two countries, up to 50,000 Indonesian young women are expected to enter Malaysia beginning February 2012. The Cambodian ban remains in effect.

So how bad has the situation been in Malaysia that it warranted such a drastic measure by Indonesia and Cambodia?

For many years now, the media and civil society have documented a stream of horrendous cases of abuse and deaths involving migrant domestic workers.

One such case in 2004 involved a 19-year-old Indonesian, Nirmala Bonat, who was burned with a hot iron on her breast, scalded with hot water and beaten by her housewife employer.

Images of her disfigured face and scared body sent shockwaves through both countries and galvanized a wave of anger. It did not help that the criminal case against her employer stretched for four years before the court meted out an 18-year jail sentence to the perpetrator.

In 2011, Tenaganita, a migrant-rights group based in Kuala Lumpur, reportedly rescued 41 Cambodian young women. Many of them suffered physical abuse and were overworked, some were sexually abused, and some were malnourished. Human Rights Watch in their report entitled "They Deceived Us At Every Step" documented 28 cases of abuse including psychological abuse, rape, bonded labor and cheating. Many more went unreported.

Also in 2011 there were nine recorded cases of "mystery deaths" involving Cambodian domestic workers. These deaths raised alarms at the Cambodian embassy in Kuala Lumpur and eventually in Phnom Penh.

To be fair, the Malaysian government has acted, and continues to act, on individual cases. However, what it has failed to do is to act upon the gaping holes in its labor and immigration laws, coupled with lackadaisical enforcement.

For a start, domestic workers are not legally recognized as workers but as servants under the Employment Act of 1955. Thus, the more than 230,000 domestic workers are conspicuously excluded from enjoying all the rights a regular worker would enjoy, including important provisions regulating work hours and days off.

What exacerbates the situation is that access to legal redress is curbed by the operations of the Immigration Act of 1959, which permits employers to unilaterally terminate the work permit of a migrant worker. This is almost always done whenever a migrant worker lodges an official complaint with the Malaysian authorities, resulting in deportation even before the case comes up for hearing in the courts.

NGOs have over the years documented numerous cases where even pending court cases are derailed solely because the Immigration Department denied permission for migrant workers to stay and complete the trial.

The ban by Indonesia put the Malaysian government under severe pressure, as the Malaysian public also openly voiced their dissatisfaction over the ban. Since then, the two governments began working on an amended memorandum of understanding.

Under the new agreement, Malaysia has agreed to Indonesia's demand for the workers' right to hold their own passports rather than submitting them to their employers, to have one day off per week and to have standard contracts. There are also reports that Malaysia has agreed to a minimum wage.

It is possible that Cambodia will also receive similar concessions. Talks are slated to take place with the Cambodian government for a similar MOU in January 2012.

While these reforms are certainly welcomed, more needs to be done. Considering that Malaysia is one of the biggest recipients of foreign labor in Asia and that it sits on the UN Human Rights Council, it is high time the government bring itself to carve out a labor policy premised on respect for basic human rights.

As it stands, whatever piecemeal concessions made thus far appear to have been done only under severe pressure by foreign governments and by Malaysian civic groups, resulting in a disjointed, inconsistent and fickle foreign labor policy.

The Catholic Church is not aloof to the plight of migrant domestic workers. In 2004, the Vatican issued the instruction "Erga Migrantes Caristas Christi," in which Blessed John Paul clearly stated that "... foreign workers are not to be considered merchandise or merely manpower. Therefore they should not be treated just like any other factor of production. Every migrant enjoys inalienable fundamental rights which must be respected in all cases."

Like other Malaysians, many Catholic families need migrant domestic workers in their homes and kitchens. This offers Catholic employers an opportunity to be witnesses of the Gospel by making reasonable labor demands of their workers, paying a just wage and respecting the worker's right to privacy, freedom and relationships.  

    

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MIDDLE EAST

Exercising the Right to Torture by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours

Ipsnews - Jerusalem - December 27, 2011 

   

In a case that has highlighted Israel's abuse of Palestinian detainees, an Israeli military court recently acquitted a Palestinian man after it became clear that Israeli interrogators used excessive physical and psychological abuse as a way to coerce a confession from him.

Ayman Hamida, a resident of Ezariya in East Jerusalem, was accused of various security offences, including shooting at an Israeli border police outpost in September 2009. He was indicted for 17 offences, based largely on a confession obtained during a 40-day interrogation period.

In his testimony before an Israeli military court, however, Hamida asked to retract his confession because he said he was threatened with administrative detention, his family members were threatened, and he was beaten, spat on, choked and deprived of food by Israeli interrogators.

"They intimidated him, saying that they will bring his sister and interrogate her. Also, they arrested his brother and tried to use this in order to get a confession," explained Labib Habib, an attorney who, with other attorney Tarek Barghout, represented Hamida.

"After that, he was brought to someone who said he was a regular prisoner, but in fact, he was working with the Shabak (Israeli secret service). They hit him and said that he has to prove that he is a good guy, confessing what he did," Habib told IPS.

Israeli daily newspaper Ha'aretz reported that Israeli military court judge Maj. Amir Dahan wrote in his judgment that "the interrogation was neither ideal nor respectful, and that harsh and problematic measures were used in a manner and frequency that deprived (Hamida) of his free will.

"This time (they went) over the top, and the defendant was forced into telling his interrogators anything in order to stop the interrogation, to end the veiled threats and to give him even the slightest hope."

According to Bana Shouthry, legal director at the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), abuse of Palestinian detainees by the Israeli General Security Services (GSS), also known as the Shin Bet or Shabak, according to its Hebrew acronym, is widespread.

"The vast majority of Palestinians are interrogated by the security services. Their interrogation is being done while the security services use emotional and psychological pressure. While they are held incommunicado, they are held under very degrading, humiliating and inhuman conditions, with no access to natural light or even natural conditions," Shouthry told IPS.

In 1987, the Landau Commission - an Israeli governmental commission charged with examining the interrogation methods used by the GSS - found that the continued use of "physical force" in interrogations was acceptable.

Twelve years later, in 1999, the Israeli high court finally prohibited torture of any kind in Israel, and outlawed certain interrogation techniques. In "ticking time bomb" situations, however, the court found that the use of physical force could be justified.

"The High Court's decision from 1999 didn't limit it only to situations where someone is suspected to know about a bomb that will explode within a few hours, but also to people who may know about others, who know about others, who know about a bomb that could explode within weeks and months. So it's a very wide definition," Shouthry explained.

"De facto, only 15 percent of PCATI's cases are actually considered by the authorities as ticking bombs. All the others are tortured because this is the way the security services know how to get information from Palestinians."

She added that more troubling than the abuse itself is the total impunity under which it takes place; Israeli human rights groups have reported that while more than 700 complaints alleging abuse of detainees by GSS agents were reported from 2001 to 2009, the Israeli State Attorney's Office hasn't opened a single investigation.

"Systematically, all these complaints were closed without opening a criminal investigation based on an internal check done by the GSS themselves," Shouthry said.

"Israel fails to meet its obligation to investigate every single suspected use of torture. They apply a legal mechanism that leads to total impunity for those commit torture, and the vast majority of detainees don't want to go to court or even submit a complaint because they know that this will not help them."

According to attorney Labib Habib, the case of Ayman Hamida will hopefully set a precedent whereby other Palestinian detainees will come forward to report abuse, and will also encourage Israeli courts to better protect their rights.

"It's a very important precedent. I hope it will encourage others to talk, and for (Israeli courts and judges) to be courageous enough to say the truth and to make the right conclusions from this truth," Habib said.

"But even in (Hamida's) case, when the court said the truth very loudly, we didn't hear and we don't know about any steps taken against the interrogators. Impunity is still going on, and more steps need to be taken in order to punish such measures and to make sure it doesn't happen again."  

   

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Christians and Muslims a year since the start of the Arab spring by Samir Khalil Samir

AsiaNews - Beirut - December 27, 2011      

The Arab uprising spread like wildfire and every Arab country felt its effects. However, the changes must be seen against the backdrop of the Islamist rise to power. Christians are afraid but must cooperate with Muslims. Syria's case and the bishops' reaction are a case in point. The West is confused and Obama discredited. A year on, here is a review of what happened in the Arab world.

   

Everything began a year ago when a young Tunisian, Mohammed Buazizi, fed up by poverty and police humiliation, set himself on fire. It was 15 December, and like a wildfire on a dry prairie, his sacrifice burnt its way from country to country. It all happened because the Arab world is going through tough times. People felt pain and wanted change. All they needed was spark for the fire to start.

The Arab revolution spread unevenly, depending on the country. In some countries, people were better prepared. In Tunisia, people are stronger and more mature and their former regime did allow protest from time to time. Where the regime was completely dictatorial, as in Libya, an external intervention was necessary. In the Syrian case, the situation is even more complex and it is unclear whether a solution will be found or not.

In some countries, like Jordan, very little happened, probably because their situation is not as bad as elsewhere. In others, nothing happened because population is largely uniformed; for instance, oil-rich Saudi Arabia, where people live well but do not know what are human rights, freedom and equality.

 

-The Arab world and its needs

In any case, unrest this year in the Arab world was caused by the fact that people's needs are not met. The first and foremost need or reason is poverty, which affects a good part of the population. However, the revolution was not their doing for they live in such grim conditions that the idea of revolution would not have crossed their mind. Others carried it out and they joined in, as in Egypt where 40 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. In Tunisia, the young man who set himself on fire was desperate because of poverty and unemployment.

The second reason is the dismal level of youth unemployment. In our culture, the inability to start out in life is a source of humiliation. Unemployment means the inability of forming a family. In Europe, reaching the age of 30 without one's own family is not a tragedy. In our countries, people start to think about creating their own family at the age of 20 with the expectation that they would have it by 25. But if you are jobless, that is impossible. In our countries, a man must be able to buy a house; a woman must bring the furniture. However, if they are unemployed, they cannot get marry and that is humiliating.

The third reason is ethical. It is the lack of dignity and freedom to express one's opinions as well as the level of inequality. This is especially true for intellectuals as well as the middle classes. Other forms of discrimination, not necessarily religious, also play a role.

Finally, television brings the rest of the world into people's living rooms. People feel backward compared to others and wonder why it is so. At the same time, they hear that the president, the minister and others are billionaires. All this creates a sense of injustice, which felt as something quite personal.

All this created a sense of frustration that led to the uprising.

 

-Islamist victory

Initially, the movement began spontaneously, from the grassroots. It had no real leadership and today we can see its consequences. Those who made the revolution did not reap the fruit of victory. They enabled others, who were better organised, to benefit for their work. It was such a setback, that some are already saying that it "wasn't worth the trouble".

I remain confident. Even though Islamists won, this step was necessary because it allowed other priorities different from theirs to come to the fore. Dignity, jobs, freedom, equality and democracy, were the reasons behind the youth-led revolution, not religion.

It is true that Islamists can now wield power. Now they can show that "Al-Islâm huwa l-hall!", that "Islam is the solution" for everything. They will have to demonstrate that an Islamic system will solve the problems of unemployment, education, equality, democracy, finances, etc.

For the first time since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Islamists will exercise political power. It will be an important occasion to see in what areas they can provide concrete answers to real problems and in what they will not. It is also will be an important to see what type of Sharia they will implement, whether it will that of Saudi Arabia, where a woman was beheaded on witchcraft charges, that of Iran, which is blocking the country's development, or some other versions. As for us, our view will depend on results.

What is certain though is that Islamists, especially Salafists, are using the Arab spring to impose their version of Islam. This was brought home to Tunisia (when they tried to impose the niqâb on women at Manouba University, the country's best known institution of higher learning, and open a mosque near the campus) and Egypt (when many churches were attacked, crosses destroyed and soldiers assaulted women, leading to last Tuesday's demonstration).

 

-Education for democracy

In Egypt, the massive electoral victory (60 per cent) of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists now means that the former will have to prove that they deserve the electorate's confidence.

Their victory was inevitable. After 60 years of military rule, the democracy was but a faded memory. Yet, more than 50 per cent of the electorate came out to vote, and that is positive. The turnout in past elections did not go above 5-7 per cent. Egyptians refrained from voting knowing that the outcome had already been fixed. Under Nasser, the ruling party won 95 per cent of the vote with 5 per cent of voters casting their ballot.

Tunisia is a special case. Turnout in its recent election was at least 80 per cent. This is a sign that people are interested in politics and are prepared to participate.

Now it is time for young people to organise. Their societies and the rest of the world have taken the Arab Revolution seriously. But they need to plan and achieve unity; otherwise, all is lost. Unlike Tunisia, young people created dozens of parties in Egypt, splitting the vote and so they lost the advantage they had.

The 'Egyptian Bloc', a liberal party open to Christians and Muslims alike founded by billionaire Copt Naguib Sawiris, won 17 per cent of the vote. It is not much, but it is something.

This shows there is hope for the future. The movement must raise awareness among Egyptians about what is at stake. In addition to the economy, which is doing badly, it must focus on education. Egypt is particularly backward compared to other Arab countries. Its illiteracy rate is around 40 per cent (especially among women) and the quality of education is poor. This is why people vote according to religious affiliation rather than political analysis.

Despite attacks against churches, Christian-Muslim solidarity has given rise to a certain sensibility and movement for equality, hitherto impossible. Although minimal given the efforts, this is something positive.

 

-The situation in Syria

Syria is where people realise the most what is at stake. Until recently, the Assad regime had appeared very stable. Now that situation is very serious and difficult. Information about is happening inside the country remains unclear. The bishop of Aleppo recently told me to be weary because what is said outside the country is different from what is said inside.

Nonetheless, some new things are emerging. For the first time, the Arab League took a clear position. It suspended Syria from the organisation and agreed to sanctions and more.

Of course, the League's position is somewhat ambiguous. Syria is an ally of Iran, a predominantly Shia country, whilst the Arab League is almost entirely Sunni. The Arab League's threats against Syria might thus be motivated more by this opposition than by love for the revolution. Whatever the case may be, Syrians for the past nine months have been willing to give their life to change the situation, and this is a truly new fact.

Syria has distinct problems, those of a totalitarian power structure facing an unarmed population. Neighbouring Arab countries are said to be providing financial aid to the rebels, but a Syrian or Arab mediator is needed; otherwise, there will be destruction.

For the first time, Turkey has come to the defence of Syrian rebels. Perhaps, it has its own hegemonic goals or maybe it is acting to meet its obligations as a Western ally. Or perhaps Turkey might want to promote itself as a model of moderate Islamic nation, despite its own less than stellar human rights record.

 

-The situation in other countries

The future is uncertain in Libya. Islamist ideas are being articulated, but the country's main problem is how to reconcile its many tribes so that they work together for its development. With industry still in its infancy, it is unclear whether it can move forwards.

Saudi Arabia did not experience any uprising (since it was nipped in the bud by the military), but people still want some change.

By contrast, in countries like Yemen and Bahrain, a revolution did take place, leading to some significant changes. Neither can ever be the same.

Morocco too saw some volatility but no revolution. Fear was sufficient to initiate some social reforms. Even before this, the kingdom had modified its family law (Mudawwanah), giving women more legal rights.

All this suggests that people in the Arab world are seeking their own path.

 

-What about Christians?

In general, Christians fear that Islamists will hijack the revolution. They, especially Salafists, scare us. A danger does exist, but cooperation with others is the only possibility to get the most from the situation. We should not be afraid. Naturally, working with the Islamists will be hard, but some Islamists have political plans and a desire to overcome their country's backwardness. We must remain watchful to show them when they cross certain limits, when they violate certain rights, etc.

Dialogue is possible and useful on certain social issues. It is time we help and support each other, and show more solidarity towards non-Christians, and vice versa. It is time to work together against illiteracy, poverty, disease, etc. In the field of education and health care, Christians have already shown their generosity and professionalism towards everyone, Christian or Muslim. I think it is possible to work together with most people.

At the same time, we must defend justice, freedom of conscience, the freedom to live our faith and proclaim it; this way, we can implement the principle of equality. Egyptian Muslims speak of the "best religion", an idea that finds application in the legal field. And of course, by best they mean Islam. For us, that is unacceptable.

Other forms of discriminations exist (men vs. women, rich vs. poor), and we must work against all of them, because they are contrary to the spirit of the Gospel.

Personally, I am not afraid of an Islamic regime. I am however concerned about intolerance. Many Muslims are also opposed to the Salafists who aim at imposing their intolerant vision of Islam (especially as it applies to women). As Christians, we cannot turn inward; instead, we must work with all those who are fighting for a society that respects human rights.

 

-The Arab spring from a Christian perspective

Because they fear of the future, Christians tend to prefer regimes that are already in place. Such regimes are dictatorial in nature and that is a sin. If the government engages in violence, we must say that we are against violence, whatever its source, whether the opposition, ordinary citizens or the military.

We must say that we are for freedom, but not the excess of freedom that is bringing ruin to the West. We must be for equality and justice, for Christians and Muslims, for men and women. Now is the time for Christians to engage in cultural evangelisation, which is far from proselytising.

Unfortunately, the fear of Islamism is pushing Christians to turn to the past. Most of them do not want to get involved too much in politics; they just want to live in peace. However, as a Christian, it is my right and duty to be politically active.

Given this background, we can understand the position of Syria's bishops, who prefer the known over the unknown. However, the choice is not between good and evil, but between two evils . . . and the choice goes to the lesser of the two. Yet, our path is to say what matters.

 

-Lastly, the West

The West has supported dictators and then ditched them. Now it is wavering. The West has been roundly criticised in Arab countries because of their reliance on countries like Saudi Arabia whose ideological foundations in the indirect source of Islamic terrorism. A country like the United States, which speaks about freedom and human rights, tends to be silent in the matter when it comes to the Saudis.

On Libya, Arabs believe the West was more interested in Libyan oil than in Libya's freedom. In fact, it got involved only against Libya (as it did against Saddam Hussein and Iraq) and not other countries. With Syria, the West is cautious because that country plays an important geopolitical role. . . . On Syria, the West is not unified and its position is not based on clear principles and values.

I am not an idealist. I think that each country will pursue its interests first. However, since the entire Arab world is caught up in the Arab spring, it would have been better to come up with ways of how to support (or not support) these movements.

The policy towards Israel, which is one of main causes of the Mideast crisis, is an issue that leaves Arabs dismayed, especially after they saw Barack Obama do a U-turn on the same day, first backing a two-state solution and then changing his position during Netanyahu's visit.

The same is true for his Cairo speech, which first conquered the Arab world, but was discredited months later when it became clear that his policies would not be much different from those of Bush. His credibility is now at all-time low. One has to be committed to principles in order to be a model for others.

The same is true for Europe, which is losing its religious and cultural identity. Unable to deal with its colonial past, it tries instead to hide behind a guilty conscience instead of showing that colonialism too had some value in terms of the dialogue of cultures.

In Europe, people are turning away from the local (usually Christian) religion. The relationship between Europeans and other world religions has become ambiguous. What is more, some governments appear at times to give preference to imported religions, whilst suffocating local ones. If France, for instance, denies is historical Catholic identity, it will not be able to deal with other religions. De facto, a form of schizophrenia has evolved, ranging from the secularisation of Christian festivities to the recognition of religions, other than Christianity.

 

For this reason, the Arab revolution can also help many young Westerners come to their sense. In Egypt and Syria, some people risked their lives for an ideal, that of a life of dignity, and for a whole people. How many people in Italy or Europe would be willing to do that?  

   

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NEPAL

Nepal's melting glaciers pose flood risk by Jonathan Amos

BBC News - December 27, 2011  

                

Climate change in Nepalese Himalayas means melting and fast eroding glaciers, forming huge lakes which pose a future flood hazard.

Ngozumpa Glacier in Nepal snakes away from the sixth highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyo.

It's not the greatest glacier to look at - far from it. It's smothered in a layer of rocky debris that's fallen from the surrounding cliffs, giving it a very grey, dirty appearance.

But Ngozumpa is generating a lot of scientific interest at the moment.

The Nepalese Himalayas have been warming significantly more than the global mean temperature in recent decades.

Glaciers in much of the region are showing signs of shrinking, thinning, and retreating; and this is producing a lot of melt water.

On Ngozumpa, some of this water is seen to pool on the surface and then drain away via a series of streams and caverns to the snout of the glacier.

There, some 25km from the mountain, an enormous lake is growing behind a mound of dumped rock fragments.

This lake, called Spillway, has the potential to be about 6km long, 1km wide and 100m deep.

The concern is that this great mass of water could eventually breach the debris dam and hurtle down the valley, sweeping away the Sherpa villages in its path. The threat is not immediate, but it's a situation that needs monitoring, say scientists.

One of the researchers at work on Ngozumpa is Ulyana Horodyskyj, from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado in Boulder, US.

She is setting up remote cameras to monitor the surface, or supraglacial, pools of water that dot the length of Ngozumpa. Some are small; some are big - the size of several football fields.

Already, she has been able to establish just how dynamic these water features can be as they drain and fill in rapid time.

The volumes involved can be prodigious. In one event, her cameras spied a supraglacial lake losing more than 100,000 cubic metres of water in just two days. Within five days, the lake had recovered half the volume, fed by waters from higher up the glacier.

"Say I came the week before and the week after a lake drained - it would seem like nothing had happened because the lake level would appear to be the same," Ms Horodyskyj told BBC News.

"But my timelapse photography tells me that something has happened - 40 Olympic-size swimming pools just got sent down the glacier."

The CIRES researcher wants to understand the part these supraglacial lakes play in the erosion of Ngozumpa.

Debris-covered glaciers don't melt in the same way as clean glaciers. The rock covering, depending on its depth, will insulate the ice from solar radiation. But remove it - as happens in these fluctuating lakes - and the rate of melting will increase.

"The enhanced melting comes from the bare ice walls in the lakes," she explains.

"The melt rate below the debris covering is about 2cm per day, but on these walls it's 4cm per day. As the lake drains, it exposes the walls which can then calve."

Ms Horodyskyj's assumption is that many of the lakes on Ngozumpa's surface are directly connected; and as one of them drains, it's likely that another lake at lower elevation is filling. However, the routes taken by the plumbing system are not always obvious.

This is being investigated by Doug Benn from the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), Norway.

He's been climbing through the vast channels cut by flowing water inside Ngozumpa. Some of these "ice pipes" open up into spectacular caverns.

"It's widely recognised that the glaciers in this region are melting down as a result of global warming, but what hasn't been realised is that they're also being eaten away from the inside as well," he says.

"These glaciers are becoming like Swiss cheeses, so everything is happening more rapidly than is apparent by just looking at the surface."

Dr Benn visits the conduits after the melt season, after the water has stopped flowing. It would be too dangerous to get inside them at the height of summer.

It would seem the channels control where some surface pools and lakes form. It is as if the conduits are the templates.

"They're lines of weakness. As the glacier melts down, the roofs of the tunnels fall in and bare ice is exposed," explained Dr Benn. "The rock debris on the surface would normally slow down melting, but the existence of these weaknesses inside Ngozumpa opens it up and makes it melt far faster than would otherwise be the case."

One of his students, Sarah Thompson, is concentrating her study on the end story - the snout of the glacier. This is where the water sent down Ngozumpa is gathering, in the rapidly growing Spillway Lake.

It is bounded by the moraine - an enormous pile of granite fragments dropped by the glacier over millennia.

At this point the glacier is stagnant; it is not moving. Again, the exposed ice walls that line Spillway Lake calve into the water, raising its level.

"We've got quite a short time period - the past 10 years - but it's an exponential growth in area,"  Thompson says of Spillway's size. "And when we look at other similar lakes in the region, Spillway is on the same sort of trajectory to their development."

The Swansea University researcher added: "The expansion is way beyond what you would expect from the rates of ice melting, ablation and even calving.

"We need to understand at an early stage the processing rates so that we can predict ahead of time what is likely to happen and, if needs be, go in and mitigate all of this before it becomes such a significant hazard.

"In my work, we've been trying to identify where there might be weak points in the moraine dam, and we believe we've identified a few areas where in future you might want to take action."

Spillway is not expected to burst out anytime soon. It could be two decades or more before a 6km-long body of water is built up. But the difficulty of working in the region and bringing heavy equipment into the area means a long-term strategy for managing the lake's evolution is essential.  

     

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NIGERIA

After Christmas attacks, appeals to sustain dialogue

Misna - December 27, 2011

    

The Nigerian Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, has announced new strategies to cope with threats and acts of Boko Haram, the Islamic-inspired terrorist group which has perpetrated a series of attacks against Christian churches on Christmas Day, killing 39 people in Abuja, Jos and Damaturu.

The minister's announcement was accompanied by military exercises by the 82nd Division of the Nigerian army that, according to the Vanguard newspaper, were held in several cities including Aba, Umuahia, Owerri, Enugu and Port Harcourt.

The events in Nigeria were condemned yesterday by Benedict XVI, who recalled how only respect and reconciliation can bring peace. "I wish to express my sincere and affectionate sympathy to the Christian community - said the Pope during the Angelus - and all those who have been affected by this senseless act and I ask the Lord to pray for the many victims. I appeal such that with the help of various social parties, security and peace might be found. Right now I want to repeat once again with force, violence is a path that only leads to pain, destruction and death, respect, reconciliation and love are the way to achieve peace."

In an interview with Vatican Radio, Monsignor John Olorunfemi Onayekan, Archbishop of Abuja, highlighted the risks of greater instability but also opportunities to strengthen the peace that must be grasped: "The vast majority of Nigerians - Muslims and Christians - want to live in peace together. Then we want to point out that among the victims of this attack were Muslims ... We take the talk of dialogue and the promotion of coexistence very seriously ... We must not let that kill our spirit: the spirit of togetherness, the spirit of living together with other people, the spirit of respecting each other. There is a grave danger that this kind of gesture will create tension and mutual hatred between Christians and Muslims. And this would be an even worse tragedy."  

     

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"Terrorism threatens us all, Muslims and Christians,...

but together we can overcome it" says to Fides the Archbishop of Abuja

Agenzia Fides - Abuja - December 28, 2011  

       

"I hope that these people have not died in vain, the Nigerians are realizing that terrorism threatens us all, Christians and Muslims," says to Fides His Exc. Mgr. John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja , the federal capital of Nigeria, where at Christmas at least 35 people were killed in an attack that hit the church of Santa Teresa, in the district of Madalla. Also at Christmas other bombs exploded in some churches in other parts of Nigeria, including a Pentecostal church in Jos, capital of Plateau State. The attacks were attributed to the Islamic Boko Haram sect.

"The day after Christmas, when I went to the site of the attack along with the Nuncio, in the presence of the Minister of the Interior, I took the opportunity to launch a strong appeal through the local press to the Islamic leadership of Nigeria to do something " Mgr. Onaiyekan tells Fides. "Even if the Muslim religious leaders continue to assert that members of Boko Haram do not belong to true Islam,there must however recognize that these are Muslims, it does not matter whether they are good or bad, and that they have the greatest opportunity to identify them and demonstrate that they are doing it. "

"A lot of importance was given to my statement - Mgr. Onaiyekan continues - and this has attracted several comments in the Nigerian media. A number of important organizations and Islamic groups are now condemning the attacks. I just received a call from a Muslim group who visited the injured in hospital and asked me to visit the church of Santa Teresa.

"It is no time to say whether we are Muslims or Christians, we have to face the problem as Nigerians who all live under the threat of these people. Among the dead there were also Muslims. The bomb exploded in the street, opposite the church, and affected not only the faithful who came out of the Mass but also passers-by. I personally prayed and blessed a man who was seriously injured while he was in the car at the time of the explosion. And this person was a Muslim, " says the Archbishop of Abuja.

Mgr. Onaiyekan reveals that the local Church had organized a security service to protect the places of worship. "These brave young men set up check posts at the two entrances of the road leading to the church of Santa Teresa, checking every car that passed. The bomber's car refused to stop. The boys followed it up in front of the facade of the church, and managed to block it. While they were arguing with the driver, he detonated the bomb. Therefore it was a suicide bombing. Among the dead there is one of our young people working for the surveillance, and at least 3 members of the police, including a Muslim, " says Mgr. Onaiyekan.

"This is terrorism, which spares no one," underlines the Archbishop. "When these people say they want an Islamic State, it is not a State that gives more freedom to the Muslims. We know what they mean by Islamic State, we have the example of the Somalia of the Shabab. I believe that we have finally managed to make it clear to the vast majority of our fellow Muslims that terrorism carried out by the Boko Haram is not only against Christians. Only together, Christians and Muslims, we can go far, " concluded Mgr.Onaiyekan.  

   

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NORTH KOREA

Power Transition: Rising Instability Or Regime Resilience? By Lee Dongmin

Eurasia Review - December 30, 2011

Kim Jong-Il's death adds a new dimension to security challenges on the Korean peninsula and in the region. In this critical period of power transition, it is pertinent not to underestimate the regime's political resilience amid possible instability.

    

THE DEATH of North Korean supremo Kim Jong-Il has, not surprisingly, triggered renewed debate about the regime's potential collapse. While there could well be political disruptions, it may be simplistic to expect the regime to implode following the death of its leader. It is also critical that we make conceptual distinctions between the notions of regime instability and the total breakdown of a state. While one cannot overlook the potential power-struggle that may break out, it may be premature to anticipate the regime to cave in under the weight of possible infighting. Indeed, the regime may prove to be politically resilient and here are a few variables that may explain this.

         

-Political Cartels And Symbiotic Relations

Kim Jong Il's illness in 2008 unquestionably served as the "first shock wave" for the regime's inner circle. As a result the political elites have been psychologically prepared to calculate the regime's security dynamics. Prior to the appointment of Kim's third son, Kim Jong-Un, as successor during the Party Representatives Convention on 28 September 2010, there might have been conflict between the "royalists" supporting Kim's family and the orthodox, restorationist group that backs the traditional state-oriented system.

Nonetheless, the regime successfully brought the Kim family's most trusted members into their power base. The addition of Kim's sister, Kim Kyung-Hui, to the Politburo and the appointment of his brother-in-law, Jang Song Taek, to the position of Vice-Chairman of the National Defence Commission (NDC) were part of this strategic planning.

There has been a significant infusion of the descendents of the "Kimilsungist" group into the reshuffled power structure since the crisis in Kim Jong-Il's health in 2008. A large number of Kim family loyalists have been promoted or recently appeared in North Korea's strengthened party institutions - Politburo, Secretariat and the Central Military Commission (CMC). One notable appointment is that of General Rhee Yongho to the Workers Party's Politburo and to the position of a Vice Chairman of the CMC - the other CMC Vice-Chairman being Kim Jong Un himself.

During this phase of power transfer, Rhee will also likely take on the role of a guardian, overseeing the succession process and keeping the military under control. Like many Kim "royalists", General Rhee represents the children of the revolutionary cadres, somewhat comparable to the "princelings" in Chinese politics. They are the most powerful political cartel, who share the same faith with Kim's dynasty. In this context, it seems to be the rational choice for them to support Kim Jong-Un for their symbiotic survival.  

     

-Institutionalisation Of Party- Army Relations

One of the most notable political adjustments made in the period between Chairman Kim's health crisis in 2008 and his death in December 2011 has been the regime's strategic institutionalisation of mechanisms to control the armed forces. During his tenure, Kim Jong-Il effectively tightened his grip on the military by utilising an intricate web of personal loyalists. Although such personalised mechanism may well be serving the interest of particular leaders and perhaps help them to maintain supremacy, the sudden death of the figurehead could result in political instability.

In the critical period of power transition, a firmer grip over the military might therefore be sought because Kim the successor lacks the charisma and experience of his father, who relied exclusively on his direct control of the armed forces.

The recent addition of a number of active-duty military officers to the restored Korean Workers' Party apparatus reflects the regime's efforts to recalibrate party-Army relations for the sake of smoothing the power-transition. Accordingly, for the past few years the regime has been strengthening the party structure. Hence, the strategic move of appointing Kim Jong-Un as Vice-Chairman of the CMC.

The North Korean leadership seems to reckon that the major reason behind the collapse of the Eastern European states at the end of the Cold War had been the lack of military loyalty. The pronouncement by the party media referring to Kim Jong Un as "supreme commander" of the armed forces appears aimed at cementing the successor's hold on the military. His latest elevation as head of the party Central Committee appears to consolidate his rise as "Supreme Leader" even before the official funeral of his father.  

      

-Central Military Commission - Successor's New Power Base?

In addition to the major changes in the Party politburo, the structural recalibration of the CMC is a significant event. In North Korea's traditional political structure, the head of the CMC usually has the prerogative of controlling the armed forces. During the political reshuffle, Kim Jong-Un's resort to old school-ties from the Kim Il-Sung Military Academy has seen some members from his cohort taking the top positions in the strengthened CMC. Beside Vice-Chairman Kim Jong-Un, it is interesting to note that the top-level members of the CMC - Rhee Yong Ho, Kim Young Chun and Kim Jong Gak - are graduates of the Kim Il Sung Military Academy who have their respective expertise in military affairs.

In addition many technocrats affiliated with the defence-industrial complex are positioned to strengthen the CMC's political apparatus. Such arrangement says much about the regime's intentions to reshape the CMC. The main purpose of restructuring the CMC is to build institutional power for Kim Jong-Un.

The North Korean political structure requires that the General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party head the CMC. Under the revised structure, the Vice-Chairman of the CMC, Kim Jong-Un, is likely to assume the position of General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party and so also head of the CMC. However, due to the peculiar nature of the regime's succession process, the successor may further consolidate his grip during the national period of mourning.

Kim Jong-Il also assumed his position as the General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party in 1997 after observing a three-year period of mourning for his father, which in turn put to an end the widespread speculation about regime collapse at the time.  

    

-Shifting Epicentre Of Power

In light of these circumstances, the purpose of streamlining the Party structure may not be merely to design a collective-leadership system for the military, but rather to reinforce the party structure to foster political capital for Kim Jong-Un. From this development, it can be inferred that the epicentre of power is shifting from the NDC to the traditional party apparatus, in particular to the CMC as a power base for the new leader.

Likewise, it is likely that the regime will continue to pursue the military-first policy and attempt to increase its defence-related economic activities to gain credit for the new leader. Until the regime firmly transfers power to the successor, the denuclearisation talks are likely to remain on hold.  

     

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PHILIPPINES

Bishops blame government for flooding

Ucanews - December 30, 2011  

       

A bishop in Manila said today that government officials who have allowed illegal logging and mining should be held accountable for flooding that has killed more than 1,000 people in northern Mindanao.

Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Manila, chairman of the Catholic Bishops' Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace, said there was a link between environmental degradation and flooding that has devastated parts of the country this month.

"The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, national and local officials who issued permits for mining and logging activities should be held accountable," the bishop said.

"May this serve as a lesson for us to take good care of our environment," he said. "There is a so-called log ban but the cutting of trees is still rampant in the Sierra Madre mountains."

Tropical storm Washi ravaged 789 villages in 13 provinces, leaving 1,257 people dead, according to an update yesterday from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Jaro described the tragedy as a "man-made disaster" aggravated by "lack of political will."

"We have enough laws but we don't have political will. We only look at the immediate gain and profit."

Some 83,537 families or 444,819 persons are currently in need of immediate relief assistance. Among them, almost 11,000 families are in evacuation centers.

Bishop Elenito Galido of Iligan said aside from food, there is an immediate need to prevent diseases.

"Affected families needed 'portalets' for sanitation and water tablets to purify water. This will help prevent water-borne diseases," he said.  

     

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Fr. Fausto Tentorio's alleged assassin arrested

AsiaNews - Manila - December 29, 2011

The Minister of Justice Leila de Lima said today that the men behind the killing of the priest in Mindanao, a man from Arakan, Ato Jimmy, and his brother Robert were arrested after a shootout.

 

The alleged murderer of Fr. Fausto Tentorio was arrested by the authorities in Minado, the Minister of Justice Leila de Lima announced today. In a message delivered to reporters, the Minister of Justice says that a man, Jimmy Ato, was arrested by agents of the regional office of the National Bureau of Investigation. (11/28/2011 Mindanao: instigator in Fr Tentorio murder still unknown)

De Lima said that Jimmy and his brother, Robert, opened fire on the agents who arrested the suspect. "Fortunately, nobody was injured. The officers immediately immobilized the subject to avoid any further acts of resistance. " It is unclear when the arrest was made.

Fr. Fausto Tentorio was killed by a lone killer inside the residence of the parish of the Mother of Perpetual Help in Arakan, north Cotabato, Mindanao October 17 last. He is the third PIME priest to be killed in the Philippines. The two priests who were killed earlier were Fr. Tullio Favali and Fr. Salvatore Carzedda, killed in 1985 and 1992.

Jimmy was accused of killing Fr. Tentorio by some witnesses, present at the murder scene. The same witness said that his brother, Robert, was driving the motorcycle on which the murderer fled immediately after the crime. Jimmy was arrested under a warrant issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 13 in Cotabato City for destructive arson with homicide. Meanwhile elements of the 57th Battalion were deployed in the area, and checkpoints installed "to prevent any possible retaliation on the families of local witnesses."  

        

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Mindanao: outpouring of solidarity for flood victims

AsiaNews - Zamboanga - December 27, 2011

To help the survivors, the people have given up decorations and fireworks. In rich and poor parishes donations of food, clothing and money for over 700 thousand displaced. Death toll now stands at 1400.

 

"The flooding in northern Mindanao, which cost more than 1400 lives, has helped Filipinos rediscover the importance of Christmas, prayer and gratitude. In the parishes of the island, rich and poor have donated food, clothes and money to be sent to the various centers for refugees in Cagayan de Oro and Illigan City. On Christmas Eve children and young people in refugee camps sung for the devastated city, bringing a sign of hope and joy to those who like them have lost everything. "This is what, Fr Giulio Mariani, a missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in Zamboanga tells AsiaNews.

He stresses that where no help has arrived so far, individuals have organized collections of clean water, food and medicine. "To help the flood victims - he says - the population has also saved on lights, decorations and fireworks. The pastors have asked everyone, especially the younger ones not to buy fireworks, but to light a candle for the victims and to make donations for the survivors. "

Since the passage of Typhoon Washi last December 16, many villages remain isolated and there are more than 700 thousand people hosted in temporary shelters. The Coast Guard continues search for missing at sea in the coming days and warned that the death toll could rise, surpassing the 1400 deaths. Today, the government has launched a new weather warning for the islands of Mindanao, Luzon and the Visayas archipelago. (Sc)  

     

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SOMALIA

A difficult year

Misna - December 28, 2011

  

Despite a state of permanent conflict that has lasted over 20 years, Somalia can rely on the presence of several newspapers. A commitment - to tell describe what is happening in the country - which is very expensive, said the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) today, that in Mogadishu alone, in 2011, cost the lives of four journalists; five others were wounded. At the national level, 19 journalists were also arrested in connection with their work and seven editorial offices have incurred violent actions.

If Mogadishu was the most dangerous city for reporters and media, NUSOJ notes that the next cities in line are Hargeisa, Bossaso and Galkayo, which is the administrative capital of the self proclaimed autonomous state of Somaliland, the main economic center of the semiautonomous region of Puntland, and the capital of the Mudug region.

As 2011 comes to a close, the general situation is even worse than that of previous years. The latest report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, refers to an increase in malaria cases in the middle and lower Juba, the persistent presence of four million people living in food insecurity and the lack of basic health services.

This picture is made all the more somber by the ongoing fighting in various parts of the country between pro-government forces and armed groups such as the Shebab.

The latter must also deal with the Kenyan army offensive in the south that is supporting the advancing government forces: the latest clashes have occurred in the lower Juba where at least ten insurgents were killed today; meanwhile, Radio Shabelle has reported that the Kenyan Air Force has attacked Shebab positions in the southern region of Gedo.

The population ultimately pays the highest price for all this. Sandwiched between natural disasters - such as this year's drought - fighting and anarchy, civilians have been forced to flee from place to place or to find refuge across the border in one of the refugee camps set up between Kenya and Ethiopia; some have even tried to traverse the dangerous Gulf of Aden to reach the Arabian Peninsula, or the desert toward the north in an attempt to reach Europe.       

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Ethiopia army 'captures Somali town'

Daily Star - December 31, 2011  

    

Ethiopian forces have captured most of the central Somali town of Beledweyne from al-Shabab Islamist militants.

Some 1,000 soldiers were involved in the Ethiopian attack, which reportedly used armoured vehicles and heavy artillery, eyewitnesses said.

Local people were fleeing fierce fighting, which al-Shabab said was continuing.

Beledweyne is a strategic town near the Ethiopian border on the road to Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

It was through the town that Ethiopia entered the country during 2006 and from it that its troops were driven in 2008, finally withdrawing back into Ethiopia, says the BBC's Martin Plaut.

"Intense battle now raging in the city of Baladweyn," read a tweet purporting to be from al-Shabab's press office shortly after 0900 GMT on Saturday. "Battle began at 6AM this morning & still ongoing."

"3000-3500 Ethiopian troops launched an assault on Baladweyn," read a tweet posted a few minutes earlier. "Majority of local residents have joined the Mujahideen to thwart the offensive."

Twenty people were killed in the fighting, a BBC Somali reporter said, mostly Ethiopian troops and al-Shabab fighters.

Last month, Ethiopia denied that its troops had returned to Somalia - about two years after they withdrew after suffering heavy casualties.

The AU has about 9,000 troops in Mogadishu under a UN Security Council mandate to battle the al-Qaeda-linked group.

Foreign military intervention in Somalia is intended to prevent al-Shabab from overthrowing the weak interim government led by Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed - a moderate Islamist.

Al-Shabab announced a "tactical withdrawal" from Mogadishu in August after fierce fighting with AU forces.

AU commanders in Somalia say they need about 20,000 troops to hold on to territory captured from al-Shabab.

Somalia has not had a functioning central government for more than 20 years and has been wracked by fighting between various militias  

     

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SUDAN

Cross air raids and accusations, no peace between two Sudans

Misna - December 30, 2011 

       

At least 17 people, almost all civilians, were killed in an alleged Sudanese army air strike in the Western Bahr and Ghazal states of South Sudan. According to the Sudan Tribune, government sources referred that there are also several injured. The government of Khartoum was accused by Colonel Philip Aguer Panyang, spokesman for the South Sudanese army, adding that many of the victims were cattle herders who were moving their herds.

The bombings, according to the same source, began two days ago and continued yesterday. Khartoum has so far not commented on the accusations, but filed a series of complaints to various international bodies, including the UN Security Council and African Union Peace and Security Council.

According to the Sudanese SUNA news agency, Khartoum claims that some 350 combatants of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) onboard 79 vehicles managed to cross the border between the Darfur region and South Sudan, setting up base in an area of the new State, which gained independence from Khartoum last July. The Sudanese also claim that the JEM fighters are using medical facilities made available to them. Juba denied these allegations, in turn accusing Khartoum of offering support to rebel groups active in South Sudan.

Sovereignty of the Abyei oil region and division of oil export proceeds are among the root problems to be resolved between Sudan and South Sudan. The South became independent last July after a referendum foreseen by the 2005 peace accords. South Sudan controls three quarters of the Sudanese oil areas, but for the oil to reach the Red Sea and international markets, the oil pipelines that cross Khartoum's territory are indispensable.

The other unresolved issues, in addition to the political and military situations, are the conflicts in two border regions between Khartoum's army and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), which is close to the Juba government.  

    

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SYRIA

Arab League Observers in Damascus. New bloodshed in Homs  

AsiaNews - Damascus - December 27, 2011

In the city reports of a bombing with 30 people dead. A video shows dead bodies. Some observers want to go to Homs, but do not have freedom to move.

      

A group of 50 Arab League observers arrived yesterday evening in Syria to try to find a way to end the violence that has bloodied the country for nine months. But also yesterday news and images spread of new massacres in Homs, a hotbed of maximum resistance to the Assad regime.

The 50 observers, including 10 Egyptians, have to verify the situation on the ground, oversee the removal of security forces from the cities, the release of imprisoned civilians, stop the violence.

The Syrian National Council - which includes opposition to Assad, based abroad - say that some observers are already in Homs, but "can not go anywhere the authorities do not want them to go."

According to the UN, the nine months of violence have caused at least 5 000 deaths. The government accuses "armed gangs" of killing soldiers who want to restore order in the country. But the opposition says that the majority of civilian deaths at the hands of the army to quell the riots. The statements from both sides are difficult to verify because there are no independent sources: the majority of foreign journalists were expelled at the beginning of the demonstrations.

Yesterday the opposition released a video showing tanks bombing Homs (see photo), in which 30 people died. Another video focuses on the bodies of four young men and a woman killed in a bloodbath.

The activists accuse the government of having transferred the prisoners to military bases - where observers can not go - and hiding the corpses from the streets of Homs and the morgue. The Reuters news agency quotes a resident of Homs, which states that there is "violence on both sides."

According to the opposition, Syria has accepted the Arab League observers - under strict conditions of control - to prevent the UN Security Council from a discussion on the situation in Syria.  

    

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Skepticism and early criticism of Arab League observation mission

Misna - December 29, 2011 

        

Daraa, Hama and Idlib are the areas that have now been visited by observers of the Arab League who are continuing their mission under an Arab plan to offer a solution to the crisis in which Syria has been enduring since March.

The observers' visits have been accompanied by news of protests against the regime as well as pro-government demonstrations. According to various international press sources, yesterday in Homs observers were able to see some fighting, repression, and to have witnessed the death of a child.

From videos posted internet by activists, it is possible to see that in some cases, the crowds surrounding the observers, demanding justice, in another case one alleged observer is seen fleeing from an area of conflict.

Clashes and repression according to the local coordination committees have been going on today in Idlib, Daraa, Jassem, Homs and other smaller towns. It is difficult to ascertain whether there were victims, while the part of the opposition is beginning to show skepticism over the results that the observers might be able to gather; they have also been critical of the words expressed by Mustafa Al Dhabi, the Head of the Arab League mission. Two days ago, Al Dhabi played down the events in Homs, drawing complaints. Perhaps, in an attempt to offer 'diplomatic' remedy, the Sudanese General said that he wants to leave a team of 20 observers in Homs.

The Syrian news agency 'SANA' (pro-government), meanwhile, confirmed the release, today, of 755 people arrested in connection with the protests. The same agency stressed that this is the fourth such initiative: several prisoners were released in November: 980 on the 30th, 1180 on the 15th and 553 on the 5th.  

     

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VIETNAM

New phase of the national campaign against child malnutrition

Agenzia Fides - Hanoi - December 29, 2011

    

The Vietnamese government closes 2011 promoting a national campaign against child malnutrition, which provides for the delivery of two liters of milk for 16 000 children in need. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of War has allocated $ 333 000 as a contribution to national initiatives for the reduction of hunger and poverty. According to official statistics, one Vietnamese out of three under 5 years of age does not have the possibility to drink milk. The non-consumption of this food is the cause of the high percentage of malnourished children in the country. The new phase of the campaign, launched in 2008, will begin in January on the island of Ly Son, central province of Quang Ngai.  

 

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Ethnic community gets Christmas rites  

Ucanews - December 27, 2011

Village holds first Christmas celebration in more than three decades

   

Hundreds of ethnic villagers in the central highlands said their first public celebration of Christmas after decades of religious constraints had bolstered their faith.

A Glen, a lay leader, said the ethnic Mlang residents of Ro Coi village in Kon Tum province were grateful to commemorate the season.

"We were very happy to attend Christmas celebrations held at our village for the first time in 36 years," he said, adding that about 800 villagers joined in the celebration.

The lay leaders said French missioners introduced Catholicism to local villagers and built a small chapel in 1940, but that they have had no resident priests since 1975.

He said Father Thadeus Nguyen Ai Quoc, who was assigned to the village earlier this year, led Christmas rites this year at the village chapel.

In past years, villagers had to travel 40 kilometers to attend events in other churches.

"From now on, we hope [this] will be a visible sign of improvement in our faith life and religious activities in the area," Glen said.

Fr Quoc said religious activities remain restricted in the area, which borders Cambodia, and that local authorities would only allow him to hold events during the day.

He added that he plans to begin offering catechism courses, prayers and liturgical rites for local Catholics who have received no faith education for many years.

        

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