Bangl@news |
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Year XII Nr. 504 Jan 18, 12 |
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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?
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)
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.
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.
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.
The Year that Was
SouthAsia
OneWorld –
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.
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.
Investigation on Human Rights Crimes of Spain's Franco Era
by
Marcela Valente
Ipsnews
-
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Indian anti-graft campaigner calls off fast
SouthAsia
OneWorld –
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.
Save
the Indian 'anganwadi' by Rakesh Kumar
SouthAsia
OneWorld –
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."
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. "
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.
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.
Exercising the Right to Torture
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."
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?
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.
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."
"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.
Power Transition: Rising Instability Or Regime Resilience?
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.
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.
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."
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)
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.