That's the blog finished for this week - but back again on Tuesday Dec 11. Many thanks to all who have dropped by.
Whervever you may be -
be safe.
Saturday, December 08, 2012
Zimbabwe: Mugabe vows to crack down on corruption
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has pledged to crack down on corruption in the ruling party. Speaking at his party's annual congress, Mugabe admitted that some of his ministers had been soliciting bribes from would-be investors following the passing of a law requiring foreign investors to sell a majority of shares to local businesses. The 88-year-old president also warned he would call elections sooner rather than later if the opposition Movement for Democratic Change failed to come up with a new constitution. Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa reports from the town of Gweru, where Mugabe was speaking.
Afghanistan: Taliban Face Sick Police
Republished permission Inter Press Service (IPS ) copyright Inter Press Service (IPS) http://www.ipsnewsasia.net/ and http://www.ipsnews.net/
Taliban Face Sick Police
By Ashfaq Yusufzai
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Dec 7 2012 (IPS) - The Taliban’s ruthless campaign against security forces has demoralised the forces, who are unable to put up a strong resistance to Islamic militants.
“Taliban militants have established a world record of savagery. They have slaughtered soldiers and common people with knives and displayed their heads in public places to send a message across the forces that they must not chase them at the behest of government,” says a police inspector in Qissakhwani bazaar in the old city area of Peshawar in northern Pakistan.
Militants have carried out 1,962 acts of terrorism since 2008 in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province adjacent to the Afghan border. These have killed 6,200 persons and injured more than 9,000 others, according to a report by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in the north of Pakistan.
These included 146 suicide attacks that have killed 826 policemen, 222 Frontier Constabulary personnel and 300 army soldiers, the local government said.
“The police are less equipped than militants, who have rocket launchers, bombs and hand-grenades,” police inspector Jawad Ali tells IPS. He says that the militants’ ferocity against security forces have demoralised the forces to the extent that most police stations and checkpoints are locked up during nights.
Some personnel seek medical leave to stay away from duty, prompting the government to issue a notification banning vacation except in unavoidable circumstances. “Genuinely ill personnel get required leave whereas those enjoying good health should stay alert to threats,” Jawad Ali says.
“We have received about 450 applications from policemen seeking leave on health grounds,” says Dr Wasan Khan at the Police Services Hospital. “Only 15 had illnesses for which they were advised rest. Others had arrived only to get a doctor’s prescription that they were ill and couldn’t perform duty.”
About 1,400 security men from the Frontier Constabulary (a 50,000 strong paramilitary force) were sacked two years ago when they refused to take part in an anti-Taliban operation on the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The government has launched a campaign to scale up morale among the security forces. “Dying while fighting the enemy is martyrdom and they shouldn’t surrender in any circumstances to the militants. They did in many instances,” police inspector Jawad Ali says. “This would only further embolden the attackers.”
He says 17 soldiers who were beheaded in Kunar province of Afghanistan in June this year after being kidnapped from checkpoints in Dir, one of the 25 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had first surrendered. After this they were blindfolded, had their hands tied behind their backs, and were taken away to Afghanistan’s Kunar province.
Militants had beheaded seven soldiers in the same area only a week earlier.
In other recent attacks, militants attacked the Mattani checkpost near Peshawar Oct. 12 and killed six policemen including superintendent of police Khursheed Khan. The militants slaughtered Khan and took his head away. The head was found hanging in a local market the next day.
On Nov. 12 seven policemen including superintendent of police Hilal Khan were killed in a suicide attack in Qissakhwani bazaar.
“All these attacks are meant to terrify the police and security forces so they stay away from defending the people. Beheading them is a strategy to spread fear in the forces,” police officer Abdullah Shah tells IPS.
Terrorists have also damaged or destroyed 300 Internet cafes and CD shops, 325 schools and 100 electricity grid stations.
The past five years have seen more than 600 attacks on police stations and police vans, according to the local government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The bomb disposal squad has defused 644 bombs and explosive devices in this period.
The government has allocated 23.35 billion rupees (240 million dollars) for the police in the total 300 billion rupee (3.1 billion dollars) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa budget to equip the police with new weapons and facilities.
“We have now 90,000 policemen in the province compared to only 35,000 when we took power in 2008,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information Mian Iftikhar Hussain says. “We are also giving plots of land and cash amount of five million rupees to the families of policemen who die at the hand of militants.”
The United States has provided vehicles, communications and other equipment worth 17 million dollars to help the police deal with the Taliban, Hussain says.
Taliban Face Sick Police
By Ashfaq Yusufzai
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Dec 7 2012 (IPS) - The Taliban’s ruthless campaign against security forces has demoralised the forces, who are unable to put up a strong resistance to Islamic militants.
“Taliban militants have established a world record of savagery. They have slaughtered soldiers and common people with knives and displayed their heads in public places to send a message across the forces that they must not chase them at the behest of government,” says a police inspector in Qissakhwani bazaar in the old city area of Peshawar in northern Pakistan.
Militants have carried out 1,962 acts of terrorism since 2008 in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province adjacent to the Afghan border. These have killed 6,200 persons and injured more than 9,000 others, according to a report by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in the north of Pakistan.
These included 146 suicide attacks that have killed 826 policemen, 222 Frontier Constabulary personnel and 300 army soldiers, the local government said.
“The police are less equipped than militants, who have rocket launchers, bombs and hand-grenades,” police inspector Jawad Ali tells IPS. He says that the militants’ ferocity against security forces have demoralised the forces to the extent that most police stations and checkpoints are locked up during nights.
Some personnel seek medical leave to stay away from duty, prompting the government to issue a notification banning vacation except in unavoidable circumstances. “Genuinely ill personnel get required leave whereas those enjoying good health should stay alert to threats,” Jawad Ali says.
“We have received about 450 applications from policemen seeking leave on health grounds,” says Dr Wasan Khan at the Police Services Hospital. “Only 15 had illnesses for which they were advised rest. Others had arrived only to get a doctor’s prescription that they were ill and couldn’t perform duty.”
About 1,400 security men from the Frontier Constabulary (a 50,000 strong paramilitary force) were sacked two years ago when they refused to take part in an anti-Taliban operation on the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The government has launched a campaign to scale up morale among the security forces. “Dying while fighting the enemy is martyrdom and they shouldn’t surrender in any circumstances to the militants. They did in many instances,” police inspector Jawad Ali says. “This would only further embolden the attackers.”
He says 17 soldiers who were beheaded in Kunar province of Afghanistan in June this year after being kidnapped from checkpoints in Dir, one of the 25 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had first surrendered. After this they were blindfolded, had their hands tied behind their backs, and were taken away to Afghanistan’s Kunar province.
Militants had beheaded seven soldiers in the same area only a week earlier.
In other recent attacks, militants attacked the Mattani checkpost near Peshawar Oct. 12 and killed six policemen including superintendent of police Khursheed Khan. The militants slaughtered Khan and took his head away. The head was found hanging in a local market the next day.
On Nov. 12 seven policemen including superintendent of police Hilal Khan were killed in a suicide attack in Qissakhwani bazaar.
“All these attacks are meant to terrify the police and security forces so they stay away from defending the people. Beheading them is a strategy to spread fear in the forces,” police officer Abdullah Shah tells IPS.
Terrorists have also damaged or destroyed 300 Internet cafes and CD shops, 325 schools and 100 electricity grid stations.
The past five years have seen more than 600 attacks on police stations and police vans, according to the local government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The bomb disposal squad has defused 644 bombs and explosive devices in this period.
The government has allocated 23.35 billion rupees (240 million dollars) for the police in the total 300 billion rupee (3.1 billion dollars) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa budget to equip the police with new weapons and facilities.
“We have now 90,000 policemen in the province compared to only 35,000 when we took power in 2008,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information Mian Iftikhar Hussain says. “We are also giving plots of land and cash amount of five million rupees to the families of policemen who die at the hand of militants.”
The United States has provided vehicles, communications and other equipment worth 17 million dollars to help the police deal with the Taliban, Hussain says.
Turkey: 'US sanctions against Iranian foreign trade have obliged Turkey to do nothing.'
Ankara, Dec 7, IRNA – Turkey's Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan reacting to expanded US anti-Iran sanctions said here Friday 'US sanctions against Iranian foreign trade have obliged Turkey to do nothing.
Caglayan added in an interview with the TGRT news network, 'In regulating its relations with its neighbors, Turkey only heeds its national interests, not the unilaterally imposed US and EU sanctions.'
He said that under the current conditions of the international economic crisis certain circles are displeased with the positive economic growth of Turkey, adding, 'Unable to criticize our economic growth rate, they have resorted to the pretext of Turkey's exports to Iran.'
He said that there have been many years that Turkey has been indebted to Iran for the natural gas it has been importing from that country, adding, 'How is it that our sales of agricultural products to Iran is called exports, but selling gold is not? Obviously some circles are displeased with this process.'
The Turkish Economy Minister said that during the course of the first nine months of the year 2012 Turkey exported 10.7 billion US dollars of gold and imported 6.7 billion dollars of the same metal.
He said that 6.5 billion dollars of the 10,7 billion dollar gold exports of Turkey was to Iran, while the remaining 3.5 billion dollars was exported to the UAE, adding, 'Of course these exports were by the private sector, not the state sector.'
Caglayan said, 'Iran's annual imports is between 80 to 90 billion dollars, and this year for the first time Turkey's share of it was 10 billion dollars,' asking, 'Where from the remaining 70 to 80 billion dollars of exports to Iran is?'
The issue of increased imports of Iran from Turkey in the year 2012 and the method of paying the price for the Iranian exports of oil and gas has been notoriously highlighted by certain circles, which are obviously under the hegemony of the Zionists, and debated in Turkish media afterwards.
The highlighting of this issue was after a US senator who had said, 'We would disrupt Turkey's game playing and not permit that country to deliver gold to Iran for its imports of gas and oil form that country.'
It was after that comment that some Turkish media reported that the US intends to broaden its unilateral sanctions against Iran to urge Tehran to end its peaceful nuclear program, but Turkey's prime minister and energy minister both reacted to such news.
Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz focusing on the matter had said, 'My country would continue its natural gas imports from Iran and the method of paying its price is up to Turkey's economic officials.'
To a question on broadened US sanctions and inclusion of the price of Iran's gas to Turkey in them, Yildiz had said, 'The Turkish Oil and Gas Pipelines Company Butash pays the price of Iranian gas in US dollars and the Turkish Refineries Share Company Tuprash pays the price of the crude oil imported from Iran in Turkish lira.'
On the US demand for ending energy carries fro Iran he had noted, 'The Turkish officials have informed the Americans that ending imports of oil and gas would in fact be sanctions against Turkey, not Iran.'
The Turkish Energy Minister reiterated that the US officials had agreed to exempt Turkey's gas imports from Iran from the sanctions list.
Yildiz said, 'Under the current conditions Turkey pays the price of the imported gas from Iran is Turkish lira and Iran, too, buys gold with it and imports it thru Dubai.'
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Teyyip Erdogan too, has said, “We do not support unilaterally imposed sanctions against Iran and therefore, we would keep on importing oil and gas from Islamic Republic of Iran.”
According to IRNA Ankara Office, Prime Minister Erdogan made the comment in his joint press conference with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In response to a reporter’s question on US demand for imposing tougher sanctions against Iran and whether Turkey would follow suit regarding its imports of oil and gas from Iran, he said that Iranian gas imports were vitally important for Turkey, which depends heavily on imported energy and is struggling to diversify its suppliers, and that the government had told the relevant parties the trade would continue.
'We have always told officials that the issue is of strategic importance to us and we couldn't comply with the sanctions,' Erdogan told a joint news conference with President Putin.
Turkey will continue to buy natural gas from Iran despite the prospect of tighter US sanctions, Turkish Prime Minister Teyyip Erdogan said, indicating the measures are not likely to have much impact on the countries' gold-for-gas trade.
The US Senate approved tougher sanctions on global trade with Iran's energy and shipping sectors on Friday in US latest effort to further mount economic pressure on Tehran over the Islamic Republic of Iran’s absolutely peaceful nuclear program.
The new sanctions, the third round in a year, include measures aimed at stopping the flow of gold from Turkey to Iran in exchange for natural gas supplies.
'We are at the same point now. We told them we would carry out the necessary swap because it's a strategic product and we will continue in that direction in the future,' he said.
Turkey, which produces most of its electricity from natural gas, buys more than 90 percent of Iran's gas exports, while Turkmenistan imports the remaining around 10 percent, but those portions are subject to drastic change after the completion of the Iran-Pakistan Peace Pipeline.
Turkey is also an importer of Iranian oil, although it has somehow decreased its oil imports as a result of a deal with Washington to be exempted from resulting sanctions.
The US Senate will consider new sanctions to reduce global trade with Iran in the energy, shipping and metals sectors. The sanctions may restrict the export and import of precious metals to Iran.
As a result of the sanctions, Iran cannot get money for its gas exports to Turkey in foreign currency. Thus, the country has to pay for it in gold, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said earlier.
According to the Statistics Institute of Turkey, gold exports from Turkey to Iran in the second quarter of 2012 totalled $4.8 billion compared to $1 billion in the first quarter.
Turkey imports 8 million tons of oil and eight billion cubic meters of gas from Iran every year.
Economy: Wage Growth Slows Worldwide
Source: Voice of America
December 07, 2012
GENEVA — A new report finds wage growth
remains far below pre-economic crisis levels around the world. The
International Labor Organization's (ILO) annual Global Wage Report finds
wages in the emerging and developing world generally have been more
resilient than in the developed world.
The report finds huge differences between countries and regions, with wages generally growing faster in areas where economic growth is stronger. It describes wage growth in the developed world as anemic, where it is forecast at zero percent in 2012.
By contrast, the report sees robust wage growth in Asia, especially in China, more modest, and positive growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in Africa. The biggest changes are in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which have seen higher wage growth than in the past, but from a lower base.
ILO Director-General Guy Ryder, says the differences in real absolute wage levels remain very large.
"Here I am going to talk about hourly earnings in manufacturing," said Ryder. "They can be as low as $2 an hour in countries like the Philippines, India and China, which compares to $23 in the U.S. and $35 in Denmark. So convergence, if you want to follow that line, has to be seen in this context of very large inter-regional differentials."
The report highlights recent findings that show wages have grown at a slower pace than labor productivity. In other words, the report says workers are benefiting less from the fruits of their labor, while the owners of capital are benefiting more.
ILO chief Ryder says this downward trend can be seen in the majority of countries. He says this is true in countries such as the United States and Germany, where wage stagnation exists. But, it also happens, in countries where wages have grown, for example in China.
"Wages have grown very quickly, but the wage share of overall production has nevertheless gone down," Ryder noted. "And, I believe and we believe that this diminution of the labor share of national income does have important consequences for the major policy discussions taking place in the world today. It has generated greater inequality in societies and it has contributed to the external and internal imbalances in the global economy."
Ryder says this trend is undesirable and needs to be reversed. Ryder adds that says workers and their families are not receiving the fair share they deserve.
The International Labor Organization is calling on governments to adopt minimum wage policies as a way of reducing working poverty and providing social protection for vulnerable employees.
It says minimum wages help protect low-paid workers and prevent a fall in their purchasing power. It warns the economy also suffers when people do not have money to spend.
The report finds huge differences between countries and regions, with wages generally growing faster in areas where economic growth is stronger. It describes wage growth in the developed world as anemic, where it is forecast at zero percent in 2012.
By contrast, the report sees robust wage growth in Asia, especially in China, more modest, and positive growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in Africa. The biggest changes are in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which have seen higher wage growth than in the past, but from a lower base.
ILO Director-General Guy Ryder, says the differences in real absolute wage levels remain very large.
"Here I am going to talk about hourly earnings in manufacturing," said Ryder. "They can be as low as $2 an hour in countries like the Philippines, India and China, which compares to $23 in the U.S. and $35 in Denmark. So convergence, if you want to follow that line, has to be seen in this context of very large inter-regional differentials."
The report highlights recent findings that show wages have grown at a slower pace than labor productivity. In other words, the report says workers are benefiting less from the fruits of their labor, while the owners of capital are benefiting more.
ILO chief Ryder says this downward trend can be seen in the majority of countries. He says this is true in countries such as the United States and Germany, where wage stagnation exists. But, it also happens, in countries where wages have grown, for example in China.
"Wages have grown very quickly, but the wage share of overall production has nevertheless gone down," Ryder noted. "And, I believe and we believe that this diminution of the labor share of national income does have important consequences for the major policy discussions taking place in the world today. It has generated greater inequality in societies and it has contributed to the external and internal imbalances in the global economy."
Ryder says this trend is undesirable and needs to be reversed. Ryder adds that says workers and their families are not receiving the fair share they deserve.
The International Labor Organization is calling on governments to adopt minimum wage policies as a way of reducing working poverty and providing social protection for vulnerable employees.
It says minimum wages help protect low-paid workers and prevent a fall in their purchasing power. It warns the economy also suffers when people do not have money to spend.
The Philippines: Court grants petition of alleged mastermind in Filipino journalist's murder
IFEX
As the press was commemorating the third year of the Ampatuan (Maguindanao) Massacre last 23 November 2012, the Court of Appeals in Manila was granting an alleged mastermind's petition to nullify his reinvestigation in connection with the killing of broadcaster Gerardo Ortega.
The Special Fifth Division of the Court of Appeals said in its 23 November 2012 decision that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima erred in creating a new panel to re-investigate the alleged involvement of former Palawan governor Mario Joel Reyes, Coron town mayor Mario Reyes Jr. and four others in the Ortega slay.
The court was acting on former governor Reyes's 3 October 2011 petition for certiorari and prohibition against the Department of Justice, the second panel of prosecutors and widow Patria Ortega.
The court said De Lima erred "when she refused/failed to exercise her power to review the resolution of the original Panel despite a petition for review . . . but instead created another Panel of Prosecutors to conduct reinvestigation, without alleging compelling reason." (Justice Sec. Leila de Lima has yet to act on the 26 September 2011 petition for review filed by widow Patria Ortega.)
The court also reprimanded the second panel for "exceed(ing) the authority vested upon it by the Secretary of Justice" when it modified the decision of the first panel finding no probable cause to indict the Reyeses. The court said the panel was only tasked to review new evidence introduced by both parties.
The Justice Secretary created the second panel on 7 September 2011, after the first panel of investigating prosecutors dismissed on 2 September 2011 the motions for reinvestigation and partial reconsideration filed by Ortega's widow. (Last 13 March 2012, the second panel recommended the filing of murder charges against the Reyeses, lawyer and former provincial administrator Romeo Seratubias, and security personnel Valentin Lecias and Arturo Regalado. It, however, affirmed the dismissal of the charges against former Marinduque Gov. Jose Antonio Carrion. Arrest warrants had been issued against the Reyeses and Seratubias.)
Consequently, the Appellate court said the 12 March 2012 resolution finding probable cause to file murder charges against the Reyeses, Seratubias, Regalado and Lecias was also null and void. Last March 2012, the second panel of investigating prosecutors reversed the 8 June 2011 DOJ resolution dismissing the murder complaints against them.
Not yet dismissed
However, in a press conference last 29 November, Ortega's widow Patria and her legal counsel Alex Avisado Jr. reiterated that the murder trial of the Reyeses and the three other suspects continues.
Avisado explained that there was no order recalling the murder charges as well as the arrest warrants for the Reyeses. He added that the Court of Appeals only dealt with the authority of the Justice Secretary to form a second panel of prosecutors to re-investigate, and not on the merits of the case.
"The technicality only says that Sec. de Lima has no authority to create a second panel overturning the resolution of the first panel. The reason they nullified or set aside the creation of the second panel was to give Sec. de Lima an opportunity to resolve the petition for review," said Atty. Avisado.
Meanwhile, Patria Ortega asked President Benigno Aquino III and Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas to speed up the arrest of the Reyeses, who have been variously reported as hiding in the country or abroad.
"We appeal to President PNoy for an intensive search for these fugitives and also to Sec. Roxas to create a team that will thoroughly look for the Reyeses. As of the moment I don't feel that there is a serious effort because there is hardly any information as to where they are," said Mrs. Ortega.
A hired gunman shot dead Palawan-based broadcaster Ortega last 24 January 2011 in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. Branch 52 of the Regional Trial Court of Puerto Princesa is currently hearing the murder case against the alleged masterminds, the gunman and other suspects.
7 December 2012
Court grants petition of alleged mastermind in Filipino journalist's murder
Source: Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility As the press was commemorating the third year of the Ampatuan (Maguindanao) Massacre last 23 November 2012, the Court of Appeals in Manila was granting an alleged mastermind's petition to nullify his reinvestigation in connection with the killing of broadcaster Gerardo Ortega.
The Special Fifth Division of the Court of Appeals said in its 23 November 2012 decision that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima erred in creating a new panel to re-investigate the alleged involvement of former Palawan governor Mario Joel Reyes, Coron town mayor Mario Reyes Jr. and four others in the Ortega slay.
The court was acting on former governor Reyes's 3 October 2011 petition for certiorari and prohibition against the Department of Justice, the second panel of prosecutors and widow Patria Ortega.
The court said De Lima erred "when she refused/failed to exercise her power to review the resolution of the original Panel despite a petition for review . . . but instead created another Panel of Prosecutors to conduct reinvestigation, without alleging compelling reason." (Justice Sec. Leila de Lima has yet to act on the 26 September 2011 petition for review filed by widow Patria Ortega.)
The court also reprimanded the second panel for "exceed(ing) the authority vested upon it by the Secretary of Justice" when it modified the decision of the first panel finding no probable cause to indict the Reyeses. The court said the panel was only tasked to review new evidence introduced by both parties.
The Justice Secretary created the second panel on 7 September 2011, after the first panel of investigating prosecutors dismissed on 2 September 2011 the motions for reinvestigation and partial reconsideration filed by Ortega's widow. (Last 13 March 2012, the second panel recommended the filing of murder charges against the Reyeses, lawyer and former provincial administrator Romeo Seratubias, and security personnel Valentin Lecias and Arturo Regalado. It, however, affirmed the dismissal of the charges against former Marinduque Gov. Jose Antonio Carrion. Arrest warrants had been issued against the Reyeses and Seratubias.)
Consequently, the Appellate court said the 12 March 2012 resolution finding probable cause to file murder charges against the Reyeses, Seratubias, Regalado and Lecias was also null and void. Last March 2012, the second panel of investigating prosecutors reversed the 8 June 2011 DOJ resolution dismissing the murder complaints against them.
Not yet dismissed
However, in a press conference last 29 November, Ortega's widow Patria and her legal counsel Alex Avisado Jr. reiterated that the murder trial of the Reyeses and the three other suspects continues.
Avisado explained that there was no order recalling the murder charges as well as the arrest warrants for the Reyeses. He added that the Court of Appeals only dealt with the authority of the Justice Secretary to form a second panel of prosecutors to re-investigate, and not on the merits of the case.
"The technicality only says that Sec. de Lima has no authority to create a second panel overturning the resolution of the first panel. The reason they nullified or set aside the creation of the second panel was to give Sec. de Lima an opportunity to resolve the petition for review," said Atty. Avisado.
Meanwhile, Patria Ortega asked President Benigno Aquino III and Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas to speed up the arrest of the Reyeses, who have been variously reported as hiding in the country or abroad.
"We appeal to President PNoy for an intensive search for these fugitives and also to Sec. Roxas to create a team that will thoroughly look for the Reyeses. As of the moment I don't feel that there is a serious effort because there is hardly any information as to where they are," said Mrs. Ortega.
A hired gunman shot dead Palawan-based broadcaster Ortega last 24 January 2011 in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. Branch 52 of the Regional Trial Court of Puerto Princesa is currently hearing the murder case against the alleged masterminds, the gunman and other suspects.
Mongolia: Economic growth in Mongolia is not benefiting the poor
“While some parts of the country are being transformed, poverty remains very high and is becoming entrenched not only in rural areas but also in urban centres as the income gap widens and inequality increases” said the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda, following a visit to the Central Asian country.
She added, “The fact that poverty levels remain high and there are increasing inequalities is a clear demonstration that the benefits of economic growth have not trickled down to the poor.”
Ms. Sepúlveda expressed concern about the challenges faced by vulnerable groups affected by poverty and social exclusion in Mongolia, such as women, children, persons with disabilities, older persons, migrants, herders and nomadic communities; ethnic minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; persons living with HIV/AIDS, and stateless persons.
During her five-day visit, Ms. Sepúlveda met with senior Government officials, donor agencies, international organizations, financial institutions, civil society and communities living in poverty both within the capital, Ulaanbaatar, and surrounding districts, as well as Erden soum in the Tuv province.
The Special Rapporteur urged the Government to immediately address the critical needs of the poorest and most marginalized, ensuring that their rights are protected and they are provided with adequate resources and access to basic services.
“I have found that, for the most part, Mongolia has established a robust legal framework, recognizing that everyone must enjoy the rights to education, health, housing, food, etc. –however, the laws do not necessarily translate into the everyday reality for many Mongolians,” she said, stressing that “there are severe implementation gaps in almost all social policies, ranging from domestic violence to trafficking.”
Accountability mechanisms to monitor the implementation and progress of poverty reduction strategies will be necessary, Ms. Sepúlveda noted.
“Mongolia must foresee the necessary budgetary implications and ensure sustainability in the long term and implement the strategy with strong cross-sectorial coordination through the leadership of a designated ministry,” she said. “Those living in poverty in Mongolia can wait no longer.”
Independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work. Ms. Sepúlveda is scheduled to report her findings during this visit to the Council in June 2013.
Armenia: Opposition Builds Consensus Around Reform
This article originally appeared in the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, www.iwpr.net
Armenian Opposition Builds Consensus Around Reform
Proposal to strengthen parliament may be a way of finding an issue the various opposition groups can all agree on.
Prosperous Armenia, a political party which recently switched to the opposition, is proposing far-reaching constitutional changes, in what analysts say is a bid to unite the anti-government camp around a single issue.
Under the plan, Armenia would adopt a system similar to reforms in neighbouring Georgia, where the prime minister and parliament are becoming more powerful than the president.
Naira Zohrabyan, secretary of Prosperous Armenia’s parliamentary group, says, “One way of solving the country’s problems, eliminating the political monopoly, and implementing essential reforms, is to change over to a parliamentary system of government. That would lead to a significant increase in the role and responsibility of political parties.”
The idea has long been favoured by other Armenian opposition parties, which believe it would give them more of a say in governing a country currently dominated by President Serzh Sargsyan’s Republican Party.
They have proposed not only shifting to a parliamentary model but also introducing fully proportional elections. At present, half the seats in parliament are elected by the first-past-the-post system, which tends to favour larger parties.
On February 29, the Heritage and Dashnaktsutyun parties introduced a bill to change the voting system, but legislators rejected it by 54 to 30.
About 12 of Prosperous Armenia’s 36 members of parliament, who were then part of the ruling coalition, sided with the opposition in the vote, although the party official opposed it.
Now that the party is in opposition – it announced its withdrawal from the coalition after the May parliamentary election – it appears to be aligning itself more closely with the other parties.
Narek Galstyan, of the Centre for European Studies, said constitutional reform was a neutral issue that could unite all of the parties outside the governing bloc.
“They are creating a platform for negotiations to link the positions of the various political groups, which they can then use to discuss more significant, strategic questions. This is just a pretext to unite the opposition,” he said.
Under the proposals now being discussed, the next president – an election is due in 2013 – would serve one year less than before, so that presidential and parliamentary elections could both take place in 2017. After those elections, parliament would take charge of running the country.
The issue could help Prosperous Armenia find common ground with Dashnaktsutyun, which has included constitutional reforms in its programme since 1991.
Artsvik Minasyan of Dashnaktsutyun said it was all about accountability.
“At the moment, the government as a whole bears responsibility for every matter. If we change to a parliamentary system, then each minister individually will bear responsibility,” he said.
The Republican Party says there is not enough time between now and the February presidential election to address the reform proposal properly. Hovhannes Sahakyan, secretary of the party’s parliamentary group, said it was really just a publicity stunt to kick-start the opposition’s campaign.
“Some political groups are trying to use this as a trump card ahead of the election,” he said.
The central council of the Rule of Law party, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, discussed the proposal on November 16, and concluded that introducing a parliamentary system would be unwise in almost every way.
“It’s such a difficult issue that it needs to be discussed not by politicians, but by experts and academics, and only after than should it be put on the agenda,” party spokesman Mher Shahgeldyan said.
Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan, a analyst at the Mitk think-tank, said the Armenia’s unique and difficult geopolitical environment meant that a strong president would be needed if things deteriorated. Armenia has frosty relations with two of its neighbours, Azerbaijan and Turkey. While it is in good terms with the other two, Georgia and Iran, they have their own problems with Russia and the West, respectively.
Armenian Opposition Builds Consensus Around Reform
Proposal to strengthen parliament may be a way of finding an issue the various opposition groups can all agree on.
7 Dec 12
Prosperous Armenia, a political party which recently switched to the opposition, is proposing far-reaching constitutional changes, in what analysts say is a bid to unite the anti-government camp around a single issue.
Under the plan, Armenia would adopt a system similar to reforms in neighbouring Georgia, where the prime minister and parliament are becoming more powerful than the president.
Naira Zohrabyan, secretary of Prosperous Armenia’s parliamentary group, says, “One way of solving the country’s problems, eliminating the political monopoly, and implementing essential reforms, is to change over to a parliamentary system of government. That would lead to a significant increase in the role and responsibility of political parties.”
The idea has long been favoured by other Armenian opposition parties, which believe it would give them more of a say in governing a country currently dominated by President Serzh Sargsyan’s Republican Party.
They have proposed not only shifting to a parliamentary model but also introducing fully proportional elections. At present, half the seats in parliament are elected by the first-past-the-post system, which tends to favour larger parties.
On February 29, the Heritage and Dashnaktsutyun parties introduced a bill to change the voting system, but legislators rejected it by 54 to 30.
About 12 of Prosperous Armenia’s 36 members of parliament, who were then part of the ruling coalition, sided with the opposition in the vote, although the party official opposed it.
Now that the party is in opposition – it announced its withdrawal from the coalition after the May parliamentary election – it appears to be aligning itself more closely with the other parties.
Narek Galstyan, of the Centre for European Studies, said constitutional reform was a neutral issue that could unite all of the parties outside the governing bloc.
“They are creating a platform for negotiations to link the positions of the various political groups, which they can then use to discuss more significant, strategic questions. This is just a pretext to unite the opposition,” he said.
Under the proposals now being discussed, the next president – an election is due in 2013 – would serve one year less than before, so that presidential and parliamentary elections could both take place in 2017. After those elections, parliament would take charge of running the country.
The issue could help Prosperous Armenia find common ground with Dashnaktsutyun, which has included constitutional reforms in its programme since 1991.
Artsvik Minasyan of Dashnaktsutyun said it was all about accountability.
“At the moment, the government as a whole bears responsibility for every matter. If we change to a parliamentary system, then each minister individually will bear responsibility,” he said.
The Republican Party says there is not enough time between now and the February presidential election to address the reform proposal properly. Hovhannes Sahakyan, secretary of the party’s parliamentary group, said it was really just a publicity stunt to kick-start the opposition’s campaign.
“Some political groups are trying to use this as a trump card ahead of the election,” he said.
The central council of the Rule of Law party, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, discussed the proposal on November 16, and concluded that introducing a parliamentary system would be unwise in almost every way.
“It’s such a difficult issue that it needs to be discussed not by politicians, but by experts and academics, and only after than should it be put on the agenda,” party spokesman Mher Shahgeldyan said.
Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan, a analyst at the Mitk think-tank, said the Armenia’s unique and difficult geopolitical environment meant that a strong president would be needed if things deteriorated. Armenia has frosty relations with two of its neighbours, Azerbaijan and Turkey. While it is in good terms with the other two, Georgia and Iran, they have their own problems with Russia and the West, respectively.
Arpi Harutyunyan works for the Armnews television channel.
Egypt: Meet the Egyptians fighting interfaith tensions
by Magdy Aziz Tobia
Cairo – Despite the state of uncertainty that encircles the future relation between Copts and Muslims, exemplified by the withdrawal of church representatives from the Constituent Assembly on 16 November, current collaboration between Egyptian Muslims and Copts provides reasons to be optimistic about the future of co-existence in Egypt.
Perhaps the most notable example of this collaboration is the Family Home Initiative. In response to the bombing of the Two Saints church on the eve of 2011, Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, launched the Family Home Initiative welcomed by former pope of the Orthodox Church Shenouda II. The “family home” in Egyptian culture refers to one’s grandparents’ house, where family members meet to celebrate feasts and weddings, share sorrow and settle quarrels. Al-Azhar’s initiative seeks to build on this familial spirit.
The Family Home Initiative officially began in July 2011 after its charter was approved by the former Prime Minister Essam Sharaf. This entity is jointly headed by the Grand Imam and the Pope of the Orthodox Church and its board of trustees comprises clergymen from Al-Azhar and Orthodox, Evangelical and Catholic churches, as well as known public figures.
The ultimate aim of the initiative is to unmask the underlying reasons for sectarianism and to work towards creating a foundation for peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians without delving into dogmatic differences. Nasr Farid Wasel, former Grand Mufti of Egypt, summed up this mission in seven words: “Religion for God, and Egypt for all”.
The initiative aims to carry out awareness campaigns in which mainstream, tolerant religious discourse is broadcast. The initiative holds emergency meetings with local priests, imams, mayors and chiefs of police after any sectarian dispute, in order to resolve them peacefully and to pre-empt future incidents.
Furthermore, the Family Home Initiative took it upon itself to urge the government to endorse a law that regulates the construction of churches and deepens the constitutional provision of principles of citizenship for all Egyptians. The initiative also submitted recommendations to the government to rid school curricula of any religious prejudices. The home board proposed the idea of curriculum that teach concepts rather than memorising religious verses.
Tolerance Train is another example of a peaceful co-existence campaign. The Tolerance Train initiative brings groups of youth of different faiths together to travel to many of Egypt’s governorates to promote tolerance. The campaign was launched in May 2011 under the slogan: "Tolerance is the cornerstone of healthy democracy". At each stop, youth meet Christian and Muslim clerics, visit religious sites and hear from laymen about their views and ideas to avoid sectarianism. The whole journey is filmed and uploaded on a blog that carries the campaign's name. In 2011, campaign leaders were honoured by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
Efforts to mitigate sectarianism are not solely confined to the official and national levels.
Another initiative, Coptic Orphans, a non-profit organisation founded by a Coptic immigrant to the United States, launched the “Valuable Girl Project” in 2003.
This project targets girls in high poverty areas across Egypt and enrols them in mentoring programs. The programme has attracted international attention for its support of all girls in need of it, regardless of religion. It is modelled after the Big Sister concept, pairing one Muslim girl and one Christian girl with each big sister. Big sisters are trained to be role models and help younger girls with their school homework and academic activities.
Participants recognised notable improvement in their school marks. One of the Muslim girls reported that she had had a negative impression about the program, but after joining she found out that there is no difference between Christian and Muslim girls and that both of them encounter a common challenge in a society that devalues the importance of their education. This philanthropic project is unique as it aims to change people's thinking and doesn't stick only to traditional charity.
Egyptians are at the crossroads in history, the revolution makes it imperative that dialogue that leads to greater understanding is pursued.
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*Magdy Aziz Tobia is an Egyptian Diplomat, member of the Egyptian Delegation to the Arab League as well as a Masters student studying Anthropology at Cairo University.
This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews) www.commongroundnews.org
Copyright permission is granted for publication.
Middle East: Gaza's armed groups unite in fight against Israel
During the recent fighting between Israel and Palestinian fighters, there was an unprecedented level of co-operation between the dozen resistance groups in Gaza. They say that for the first time, they united in planning attacks on Israel. Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston reports from Gaza.
Indonesia: UN anti-crime agency pledges continued support to Indonesia to combat corruption
UN 7 December 2012 – A United Nations senior official today reaffirmed the world body’s support for Indonesia’s anti-corruption efforts, particularly in the environmental sector.
“We will continue to support the national efforts in corruption prevention and eradication,” the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, told reporters at an event organized by Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (known by the acronym KPK) in the capital, Jakarta.
Indonesia is home to the largest single UNODC country programme in the region, which provides support to anti-corruption efforts by the Supreme Court, the KPK, the criminal justice system and general law enforcement. It also involves civil society mobilization to better combat emerging threats such as corruption and its links to deforestation.
In his remarks, Mr. Fedotov praised President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s commitment to independent anti-corruption agencies and highlighted UNODC’s work supporting Government initiatives to combat corruption, illicit drugs, and wildlife, forest and environmental crimes.
“Transnational organized criminal syndicates operating in Indonesia and the region play a role in illicit resource extraction – like protected natural resources, timber, fish and other wildlife – and crimes which harm the environment. They are a threat to public health and society’s well-being,” said Mr. Fedotov. “Let’s put them out of business.”
While in Jakarta, Mr. Fedotov met with senior Government officials to whom he reiterated the importance of the strong partnership between UNODC and national authorities to strengthen the rule of law and improve the capacity of anti-corruption institutions, implement prison reform, and combat environmental crime, as well as the use of illicit drugs.
The UNODC chief’s four-day visit to Indonesia concludes his five-country trip to Southeast Asia to engage both with government counterparts and civil society partners.
Prior to Indonesia, Mr. Fedotov visited Thailand, Myanmar, Viet Nam and Laos, where he exchanged views with regional leaders on the human security challenges facing the region and how the world body could respond better.
Corruption: US - Executives charged in scheme that defrauded investors of $40 million
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Florida
Southern District of Florida
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael B. Steinbach, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announce that Claudio Eleazar Osorio, a/k/a “Claudio Osorio Rodriguez,” 54, of Aventura, and Craig Stanley Toll, 64, of Pembroke Pines, were arrested today based on a federal fraud indictment. More specifically, the indictment charges the two men with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349; 16 counts of substantive wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343; one count of major fraud against the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States code, Section 1031; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957; and three counts of making false statements to the a United States government agency, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. The defendants are expected to make their initial appearances in federal court today at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman.
According to allegations in the indictment, Innovida Holdings LLC was a Florida limited liability company located in Miami Beach. Innovida manufactured fiber composite panels for the construction industry for use in the construction of residential, commercial, governmental, and other structures without the need for cement, steel, or wood. Innovida purported to be a rapidly expanding and financially strong international operation with facilities in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Angola, Tanzania, and other countries. Defendant Claudio Osorio was the president, owner, and majority shareholder of Innovida. Co-defendant Craig Toll, a licensed CPA, was the company’s chief financial officer.
According to the indictment, between March 2007 and March 2011, Osorio, Toll, and others offered and sold shareholder interests and joint-venture partnerships in Innovida to select individuals and groups, raising more than $40,000,000 from approximately 10 investors and investment groups located in the United States and other countries. Osorio, Toll, and others solicited and recruited investors by making materially false representations and concealing and omitting material facts regarding, among other things, the profitability of the company, the rates of return on investment funds, the use of investors’ funds, and the existence of a pending lucrative contract with a third-party entity. Osorio received money from investors based on these misrepresentations. In addition, Osorio used investor money for his and his co-conspirators’ personal benefit and to maintain and further the fraud scheme.
The indictment further alleges that between January 2010 and March 2011, Osorio, Toll, and others applied for and obtained a $10,000,000 loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a U.S. government agency that promotes U.S. government investments abroad to foster the development and growth of free markets. The purported purpose of the loan was to build a manufacturing facility and 500 homes in Haiti (“the Haiti project”) for displaced families in the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake. The indictment alleges that Osorio, Toll, and others made materially false representations and omissions concerning, among other things, the profitability of Innovida, the purported use of the loan proceeds, an equity contribution to be made by Innovida, and contracts that Innovida purportedly had obtained with third-party vendors. Osorio used the OPIC loan proceeds to repay investors and for his and his co-conspirators’ personal benefit and to further the fraud scheme.
In a separate but related civil action, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint in federal court against Osorio, Toll, and Innovida alleging they defrauded investors and violated federal securities laws by portraying the company as having millions of dollars more in cash and equity than it actually did.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. Mr. Ferrer also commended the efforts of the SEC-Southeastern Region, for their cooperation and assistance during this investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lois Foster-Steers.
An indictment is only an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.
According to allegations in the indictment, Innovida Holdings LLC was a Florida limited liability company located in Miami Beach. Innovida manufactured fiber composite panels for the construction industry for use in the construction of residential, commercial, governmental, and other structures without the need for cement, steel, or wood. Innovida purported to be a rapidly expanding and financially strong international operation with facilities in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Angola, Tanzania, and other countries. Defendant Claudio Osorio was the president, owner, and majority shareholder of Innovida. Co-defendant Craig Toll, a licensed CPA, was the company’s chief financial officer.
According to the indictment, between March 2007 and March 2011, Osorio, Toll, and others offered and sold shareholder interests and joint-venture partnerships in Innovida to select individuals and groups, raising more than $40,000,000 from approximately 10 investors and investment groups located in the United States and other countries. Osorio, Toll, and others solicited and recruited investors by making materially false representations and concealing and omitting material facts regarding, among other things, the profitability of the company, the rates of return on investment funds, the use of investors’ funds, and the existence of a pending lucrative contract with a third-party entity. Osorio received money from investors based on these misrepresentations. In addition, Osorio used investor money for his and his co-conspirators’ personal benefit and to maintain and further the fraud scheme.
The indictment further alleges that between January 2010 and March 2011, Osorio, Toll, and others applied for and obtained a $10,000,000 loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a U.S. government agency that promotes U.S. government investments abroad to foster the development and growth of free markets. The purported purpose of the loan was to build a manufacturing facility and 500 homes in Haiti (“the Haiti project”) for displaced families in the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake. The indictment alleges that Osorio, Toll, and others made materially false representations and omissions concerning, among other things, the profitability of Innovida, the purported use of the loan proceeds, an equity contribution to be made by Innovida, and contracts that Innovida purportedly had obtained with third-party vendors. Osorio used the OPIC loan proceeds to repay investors and for his and his co-conspirators’ personal benefit and to further the fraud scheme.
In a separate but related civil action, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint in federal court against Osorio, Toll, and Innovida alleging they defrauded investors and violated federal securities laws by portraying the company as having millions of dollars more in cash and equity than it actually did.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI. Mr. Ferrer also commended the efforts of the SEC-Southeastern Region, for their cooperation and assistance during this investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lois Foster-Steers.
An indictment is only an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.
US Politics: The Obama Second Term - Business as Usual or a 21ST Century Lincoln?
Courtesy IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint
WASHINGTON DC (IDN) - The US Presidential Inauguration ceremony will be held in Washington DC on Monday, January 21, 2013.The official theme for the 2013 inauguration is “Faith in America’s Future”. For many Americans, and indeed for many international observers, that faith is in desperate need of reaffirmation not only because of the domestic economic crisis, and the political paralysis in the US Congress over its solution, but also because of the decline of the US’s political power and influence internationally.
Obama’s second Inauguration Day falls in the same month as the 150th anniversary of the US Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. Based on his constitutional authority as commander in chief of the armed forces, Lincoln proclaimed all slaves in Confederate territory to be forever free ordering the Army to treat the slaves in the ten states that were still in rebellion as free men, thus liberating 3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the US. The Proclamation immediately resulted in the freeing of 50,000 slaves, with nearly all the rest (of the 3.1 million) actively freed as Union armies advanced.
Obama has the remarkable opportunity of making the same kind of Lincolnesque impact on the USA liberating the economic under classes, the minorities and the illicit immigrants in US society from the dominance of what the “Occupy Wall Street” protesters call the “1%”. If a second term for President Obama is going to be more of the same as his first term, belying the soaring expectations of his supporters, then a series of expeditious and unprincipled compromises will be repeated paving the way for the return of the right-wing to the White House with disastrous consequences for the US and the world.
On the other hand, if the real Obama stands up for what he has espoused, matching his eloquent rhetoric with decisive practical actions, we may still see, domestically, a new USA with its social injustices righted and its internal divisions bridged. Internationally, Obama could ensure a US participating in a global economic recovery and in an enlightened multipolar world order with the Arab spring transformed into a Global Spring of international peace and security, sustainable development and respect for human rights – finally proving that he deserved that Nobel Peace Prize.
Obama won the 2008 election as the first African-American President leading an enthusiastic coalition of liberals and moderates, minority Afro-Americans and Hispanics, women, youth and the lower income groups. That coalition held together for 2012 – albeit much less enthusiastically because of their disappointments with Obama’s first term.
A Class War
Paul Krugman, renowned Professor of Economics at Princeton and op-ed columnist at the New York Times, has perceptively seen the last US Presidential Election as a class war. Writing in the New York Times on November 29 he says: “The important thing to understand now is that while the election is over, the class war isn't. The same people who bet big on Mr. Romney, and lost, are now trying to win by stealth – in the name of fiscal responsibility – the ground they failed to gain in an open election.”
Another commentator, Francis Fukuyama, writing before the elections said: “Money, power and class continue to play out in American politics in highly complex and puzzling ways. Plutocracy has kept the system going despite the enormous policy failures it has generated, not to exclude the recent crisis.” The battleground of the class war will be the social and economic agenda of the US and there the fact that Obama will have the power to fill two vacancies on the Supreme Court in his second term is encouraging.
This “class war” aspect of the 2012 Presidential Election could be traced to a controversial decision of the conservative dominated US Supreme Court. Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission was a landmark case in 2010 when the Court held that the First Amendment of the US Constitution prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations and unions. By this narrow 5–4 ruling the Court removed the previous ban on corporations and organizations using their treasury funds for direct advocacy. Thus special interests groups were now free to expressly endorse or call to vote for or against specific candidates, actions that were previously prohibited.
Most Democrats and liberal commentators condemned the decision as tilting the scales in favour of the rich. Obama himself said in his State of the Union speech in 2010: “Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign corporations – to spend without limit in our elections.”
Predictably the 2012 US Presidential Elections were the most expensive ever with an estimated US $ 5.8 million spent on the campaigns. While the Republican candidate Romney was the richest in history, Obama was not far behind in his campaign expenses. While Obama’s victory in terms of the Electoral College was less impressive than in 2008 his popular vote margin was even thinner. Thus the pressures of the “class war” will persist in a highly polarized country.
The debate about the ‘fiscal cliff’ now revolves essentially about whether or not to raise the taxes of the super rich and enforce spending cuts in order to bridge or at least reduce the deficit. Obama will need all his political skills to craft a compromise with the Republican dominated House. Also on the domestic policy agenda is the problem of immigration, which will again raise strong sentiments.
On energy policy, the discovery of abundant quantities of shale gas is an unexpected bonanza putting the USA, according to one estimate, ahead of Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest energy supplier five years hence. This will test Obama’s environment policies especially on climate change – brought into sharp focus by hurricane “Sandy” – over which he had already compromised in his first term. Reduced US dependence on foreign oil and its accompanying pressures to interfere in Middle East affairs may be another consequence.
Foreign policy
On foreign policy the “pivot’’ to the Pacific from the Atlantic, because of the growing power of Asia in general and China in particular, will continue. It will be important for Obama to exercise restraint in fomenting the problems China has with its south-east Asian neigbours over the disputed islands in the South China Sea and to engage in other aggressive moves to “contain” China. The management of economic relations with China and its harmonious meshing with the Trans-Pacific Partnership will be a priority and protectionist pressures within US will not help especially as the new Chinese leadership is in its early days.
On Russian relations, a further nuclear disarmament treaty will have to be negotiated but the problem of Ballistic Missile defence systems deployed in Europe remains an obstacle. The resetting of the US-Russian relations button, which began in the first Obama term, has been stuck in this groove for too long. Relations with the European Union will remain harmonious but dependent on the economic recovery of both partners.
Netanyahu and his extremist Foreign Minister had thwarted Obama in his earlier efforts to negotiate a Middle East peace. That stalemate is unlikely to be broken if Netanyahu is re-elected as Prime Minister of Israel. Moreover the problems over Iran’s nuclear programme will be acute unless the end of the Ahmadinejad Presidency on August 3, 2013 signifies a policy change. Preventing an attack on Iran by Israel will have to be the primary aim relying on diplomacy to arrive at a solution acceptable to all.
The Arab Spring will encourage democracies to replace monarchies and dictatorships but preventing this from deteriorating into sectarian wars will be a major challenge especially with the wealth of Saudi Arabia and Qatar supporting particular groups.
The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in 2014 will finally result in the US not being at war anywhere in the world providing a great opportunity to cut military expenditure drastically. Nevertheless the insatiable military industrial complex of the US will want to provoke another conflict to sell its arms and Obama’s foreign policy will be put to a severe test.
However, as Jessica Tuchman Mathews of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace put it, “No ‘foreign policy’ issue in 2013 will matter as much to global economic, political, and ultimately security conditions as whether the United States and Europe are able to deal with their economic crises”.
*Jayantha Dhanapala is a former Ambassador of Sri Lanka and a former UN Under-Secretary-General. He is currently President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and a member of the Governing Board of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). [IDN-InDepthNews – December 7, 2012]
2012 IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters
Top left image: Lincoln presents the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet. Painted by Francis Bicknell Carpenter in 1864 | Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Landmine Ban: Poland Final EU Member to Join
Source: Human Rights Watch
US Says Decision ‘Soon’ on Joining Treaty
(Geneva) – Poland’s announcement on December 5, 2012, that it is about to ratify the international treaty prohibiting landmines means that all 27 European Union countries have banned these unlawful weapons, Human Rights Watch said today. During the 12th annual meeting of the Mine Ban Treaty, which ended in Geneva today, the United States announced that it will “soon” make a decision on joining the treaty.
“With Poland's ratification the EU can finally speak with one voice in opposing antipersonnel landmines,” said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch. “The United States should realize that this not the time for half-measures; there is no alternative but to embrace the Mine Ban Treaty.”
A total of 160 nations are party to the Mine Ban Treaty, which comprehensively prohibits antipersonnel landmines and requires their clearance and assistance to victims. At the treaty’s meeting this week, Poland’s deputy foreign minister announced that its president has signed the country’s ratification instrument for the Mine Ban Treaty, which will be deposited at the United Nations shortly. With Poland’s ratification all European Union member states will have joined the treaty, just days before the EU is slated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
At the Geneva meeting, the US delegation announced that the landmine policy review initiated in late 2009 will conclude “soon,” but it did not indicate more precisely when the decision would be made. The United States and 35 other countries have not joined the Mine Ban Treaty, which was opened for signature in December 1997 and entered into force on March 1, 1999. Nearly all non-signatories, including the US, follow the treaty’s key provisions and have not used, produced, or exported antipersonnel mines in many years. The last recorded use of antipersonnel landmines by the US was more than 20 years ago, during the 1991 Gulf War.
In the past couple of years antipersonnel landmines have been used by Syria, Burma, Israel, and Libya, none of which have joined the Mine Ban Treaty. In 2012, there have been serious allegations of antipersonnel mine use by the armed forces of Sudan and Yemen, both Mine Ban Treaty states parties, though neither government appears to have initiated an investigation into the allegations. A small number of rebel groups also continue to use antipersonnel mines.
“All countries that care about protecting civilians need to speak out against new use of antipersonnel landmines to help stigmatize these weapons,” Goose said. “Reports and allegations of new antipersonnel mine use should be investigated promptly, especially when treaty members are involved.”
All countries should condemn new landmine use and tackle possible breaches to preserve the Mine Ban Treaty's strength and integrity, Human Rights Watch said.
A total of 116 countries participated in the Mine Ban Treaty’s Twelfth Meeting of States Parties, held in Geneva from December 3 through 7. Observer delegations participated from 17 countries that have not joined the treaty, including Burma, China, India, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Palestine, Singapore, and the United States.
At the meeting, five member countries – Republic of Congo, Denmark, Guinea-Bissau, Jordan, and Uganda – announced the completion of their mine clearance programs. This brings the total number of states that have completed mine clearance and become mine-free to 24, in addition to non-signatory Nepal. At the meeting, Palestine declared its strong desire to join the Mine Ban Treaty as soon as possible.
Three member countries – Belarus, Greece, and Ukraine – have remained in violation of the treaty for several years, having missed their deadlines for destroying stockpiled antipersonnel mines. However, all three reported at the meeting that they have made progress.
Human Rights Watch is a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize together with its coordinator Jody Williams, for its efforts to bring about the Mine Ban Treaty and for its contributions to a new international diplomacy based on humanitarian imperatives.
US Says Decision ‘Soon’ on Joining Treaty
(Geneva) – Poland’s announcement on December 5, 2012, that it is about to ratify the international treaty prohibiting landmines means that all 27 European Union countries have banned these unlawful weapons, Human Rights Watch said today. During the 12th annual meeting of the Mine Ban Treaty, which ended in Geneva today, the United States announced that it will “soon” make a decision on joining the treaty.
“With Poland's ratification the EU can finally speak with one voice in opposing antipersonnel landmines,” said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch. “The United States should realize that this not the time for half-measures; there is no alternative but to embrace the Mine Ban Treaty.”
A total of 160 nations are party to the Mine Ban Treaty, which comprehensively prohibits antipersonnel landmines and requires their clearance and assistance to victims. At the treaty’s meeting this week, Poland’s deputy foreign minister announced that its president has signed the country’s ratification instrument for the Mine Ban Treaty, which will be deposited at the United Nations shortly. With Poland’s ratification all European Union member states will have joined the treaty, just days before the EU is slated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
At the Geneva meeting, the US delegation announced that the landmine policy review initiated in late 2009 will conclude “soon,” but it did not indicate more precisely when the decision would be made. The United States and 35 other countries have not joined the Mine Ban Treaty, which was opened for signature in December 1997 and entered into force on March 1, 1999. Nearly all non-signatories, including the US, follow the treaty’s key provisions and have not used, produced, or exported antipersonnel mines in many years. The last recorded use of antipersonnel landmines by the US was more than 20 years ago, during the 1991 Gulf War.
In the past couple of years antipersonnel landmines have been used by Syria, Burma, Israel, and Libya, none of which have joined the Mine Ban Treaty. In 2012, there have been serious allegations of antipersonnel mine use by the armed forces of Sudan and Yemen, both Mine Ban Treaty states parties, though neither government appears to have initiated an investigation into the allegations. A small number of rebel groups also continue to use antipersonnel mines.
“All countries that care about protecting civilians need to speak out against new use of antipersonnel landmines to help stigmatize these weapons,” Goose said. “Reports and allegations of new antipersonnel mine use should be investigated promptly, especially when treaty members are involved.”
All countries should condemn new landmine use and tackle possible breaches to preserve the Mine Ban Treaty's strength and integrity, Human Rights Watch said.
A total of 116 countries participated in the Mine Ban Treaty’s Twelfth Meeting of States Parties, held in Geneva from December 3 through 7. Observer delegations participated from 17 countries that have not joined the treaty, including Burma, China, India, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Palestine, Singapore, and the United States.
At the meeting, five member countries – Republic of Congo, Denmark, Guinea-Bissau, Jordan, and Uganda – announced the completion of their mine clearance programs. This brings the total number of states that have completed mine clearance and become mine-free to 24, in addition to non-signatory Nepal. At the meeting, Palestine declared its strong desire to join the Mine Ban Treaty as soon as possible.
Three member countries – Belarus, Greece, and Ukraine – have remained in violation of the treaty for several years, having missed their deadlines for destroying stockpiled antipersonnel mines. However, all three reported at the meeting that they have made progress.
Human Rights Watch is a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize together with its coordinator Jody Williams, for its efforts to bring about the Mine Ban Treaty and for its contributions to a new international diplomacy based on humanitarian imperatives.
Liberia: Call for tougher drug laws
Source: IRIN
MONROVIA, 7 December 2012 (IRIN) - Liberia's Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA) has been trying to crack down on local drug dealers since the civil war ended but there are significant challenges due to weak laws and logistical problems.
Liberia is both a transit point for drugs being transported from South America to Europe, and also a drug-producer, mainly of marijuana which is grown by small-scale producers.
"The fight against illicit drugs in Liberia is a challenging and an overwhelming kind of undertaking. There has not been any kind of legal framework to address the issue. And as such, traffickers, users and other people take advantage of that weakness and there is a serious problem in the country," said LEA Director Anthony Souh.
"Logistics has been the problem. Logistics are all driven on the wheel of finance. Government has not been in the position to finance all of its projects properly because of the war," he said, adding that Liberia can only become drug-free if there are harsher penalties.
Under current law, a drug user can get bail for as little as US$72.
"If you want to fight drugs in any country, the first and most important thing is the adequacy and effectiveness of the legal framework, and the next area... is the control of illicit drugs, which has to do with law enforcement. In this area we have deployed men in all 15 counties since we took over... We will need to beef up our intelligence capability, and training is also taking place too," said Souh.
A bill is currently going through parliament. Its drafter, Bong County representative George Mulbah, says if passed it will make drug-trafficking a non-bailable offence.
Pervasive in capital
A 2012 report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) pinpoints some of the worst-affected areas in and around the capital, Monrovia. Brian Morales, foreign affairs officer from the US Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, who is one of the authors of the report, told a gathering in Washington DC that the communities in Liberia with the highest drug use are Congo Town, Chocolate City, New Kru Town, Clara Town, Duala, Red Light and West Point.
Almost all other neighbourhoods in the capital were perceived as having drug-related problems to a greater or lesser extent, he added.
Some 9 percent of students in Liberia say they use cannabis, according to the UNODC 2012 global drug report, while the increased trafficking of cocaine has also led to increased cocaine use across the region.
Morales, who is expected to lead a delegation to Liberia shortly, said the main objective of the report is to provide a snapshot to help decision-makers with initial low-cost interventions on drug prevention, treatment and care.
"I... realized that the contributing factor has been the addiction of most of our young people to drugs," said Mulbah. Criminal activities, including armed robbery, are carried out by drug addicts, he added. "...When government arrests any of them, they file a bond and the next day they are out."
Crime and addiction
Zuo Taylor, director of Youth Crime Watch, a local NGO which works with underprivileged youths and drug addicts to try to get them to change their behaviour, and also with students to explain the danger of narcotics, notes some of the difficulties:
"It is a challenge because every sector of the country is affected. We meet them one-on-one encouraging them to change their attitude and live a positive life. We have succeeded in changing the lives of some of them but more needs to be done.
Victor Swen, a father of two, said planting marijuana helps him support his family, but pointed out that some youths who smoke marijuana turn to theft.
Substances were heavily promoted during the civil war. Various concoctions of drugs were reported to be regularly consumed by militias as a form of psychic and physical "protection" against enemy bullets, and to make fighters brave and fearless.
"They rob people at night and hold people up at gunpoint. Marijuana makes them brave to do anything," he told IRIN, adding "I love smoking it... I also supply it to other buyers from Monrovia and Guinea. That's the business that I do."
In the central Liberian town of Gbarnga where residents grow marijuana, local youths frown on people who see them as useless in society.
Melvin Willie, 22, a high school dropout spends his day planting marijuana and smoking it as well. He said he has been in the business for more than five years.
"Whenever I smoke marijuana I do anything that my heart tells me to do. I look into the face of anyone and tell them what I think. I am not afraid when I smoke. I become brave whenever I smoke the crops. Many times I get involved in a fight with people who try to look down at me," he said.
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