Thousands of migrants travelling from North Africa and the Middle East reach southern Italy every year. More than 50,000 have arrived in Sicily alone since January. For some Italians the influx has become too much. Al Jazeera's Claudio Lavanga reports from the Sicilian city of Catania.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Iran: Al-e Ahmad manuscripts uncovered after 45 yrs
Tehran, June 16, IRNA -- Manuscripts of the late Iranian author and critic Jalal Al-e Ahmad has been discovered after a lapse of 45 years.
Mohammad Hossein Danaei, the authorˈs nephew, unveiled the manuscripts at his residence in Tehran on June 15, 2014, according to Iran Dailyˈs Tuesday edition.
Victoria Daneshvar, Jalalˈs sister-in-law discovered the manuscripts at the authorˈs residence which is going to be sold to Tehran Municipality. ˈThese include four memoirs and three scattered notebooks. The documents also feature Jalalˈs sketches as well as his views on issues such as the Persian writing system,ˈ Danaei said.
ˈThese four manuscripts are ready for publication. I am going to release them after obtaining authorization from Jalalˈs heir,ˈ he said.
Danaei, who speculates that the documents were lost on purpose, said, ˈHis widow Simin Daneshvar, an author on her own right, as well as his two other heirs Shams Al-e Ahmad and Dariush Parviz decided to make copies of a number of unpublished manuscripts left after Jalalˈs death in 1969.ˈ
ˈShams later published some of the works. They include ˈA Stone Upon a Graveˈ as well as a travelogue. However, due to some disputes between Daneshvar and the other heirs, the release of the rest of the books was delayed.ˈ
ˈI guess that the heirs decided not to publish the works at that moment.ˈ
Al-e-Ahmad (1923-1969) was a prominent Iranian writer, thinker and social and political critic.
Al-e-Ahmad used a colloquial style in prose. In this sense, he is a follower of avant-garde Persian novelists like Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh.
His novels include: ˈThe School Principalˈ, ˈThe Tale of Beehivesˈ, ˈThe Cursing of the Landˈ. His short stories are ˈThe Setarˈ, ˈThe Chinese Flower Potˈ and ˈThe Treasureˈ.
The author was a strong critique of the dominance of Western technology and culture over the East. He argued that the decline of traditional Iranian industries such as carpet-weaving were the beginning of Western ˈeconomic and existential victories over the Eastˈ.
Turkey: Istanbul Residents Skeptical of 'Risk Area' Declaration
Source: Voice of America
June 16, 2014 4:32 PM
ISTANBUL — Istanbul city authorities
have announced the destruction of an area containing thousands of
people's homes because they say they are unsafe.
The decision has caused outrage because the area is a center of anti-government unrest and home to a minority religious sect.
Istanbul’s Okmeydani district is a hot bed of anti-government protests, many walls are covered in graffiti critical of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. There also are written names of people who have been killed here by security forces.
But the residents face a new threat. The ruling AK Party has designated the area an earthquake risk and ordered the destruction of buildings.
For Hasan, a shopkeeper, there is no doubt as to what lies behind this decision. He says he believes it is absolutely a political move because the prime minister wants to break up the fabric of the society here.
He said in the current political environment the government sees this place, and the Alevi people living here, as a threat and an enemy.
The Okmeydani district is home to many Alevis, who follow a progressive form of Islam that allows men and women to pray together and does not require women to wear religious headscarves.
Traditionally, many Alevis, who make us as much as a fifth of the population in Turkey, support left of center political parties.
Analysts say it is a coincidence the dozen or so people killed by security forces in a year of political unrest were Alevis.
But they warn the coincidence is exacerbating deep suspicions of the sect by the ruling AK party and its supporters, many whom are pious orthodox Sunni Muslims.
Professor Istar Gozaydin of Istanbul's Dogus University says the current political strife is stirring ancient tensions.
"They (Alevis) are sort of heretics in the eyes of Sunni Muslims. The Alevis have been experiencing all sorts of atrocities, discriminations. Unfortunately that is still continuing today," he said.
Tensions are on the rise as Prime Minister Erdogan hits the campaign trail. He is expected to run for president in elections this August.
Critics accuse him of using increasingly sectarian language to drum up support among pious supporters and of implying that Alevis are part of a plot against him.
In response, thousands of Alevis have been on the streets of Istanbul protesting prejudice and police brutality.
This teacher who did not give her name says she is worried the AK party is stoking a religious polarization.
"I feel that I am not a part of this country. I feel the government wants us to live the way they want. Some conservative Muslims do not like Alevis. Alevis (have been) massacred in this country, 50, 100, 200 people were killed. It can happen to us to, so I am afraid."
The religious affairs directorate that administers the Muslim faith in Turkey is the Diyanet. Its deputy head, Mehmet Pacaci, says the tensions need to be confronted.
"Actually the Diyanet, will have a role to ease this tension. Of course there is a tension. There is a kind of stereotype. Misconceptions are on both sides as well. So yes there are many things to do, for Diyanet as well, and we will find a way to solve this problem," he said.
Last year’s mass protests were provoked by a plan to redevelop Gezi Park, and now that the homes of the Alevis are due to be pulled down, Turkey's next battleground could be the Okmeydani district.
The decision has caused outrage because the area is a center of anti-government unrest and home to a minority religious sect.
Istanbul’s Okmeydani district is a hot bed of anti-government protests, many walls are covered in graffiti critical of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. There also are written names of people who have been killed here by security forces.
But the residents face a new threat. The ruling AK Party has designated the area an earthquake risk and ordered the destruction of buildings.
For Hasan, a shopkeeper, there is no doubt as to what lies behind this decision. He says he believes it is absolutely a political move because the prime minister wants to break up the fabric of the society here.
He said in the current political environment the government sees this place, and the Alevi people living here, as a threat and an enemy.
The Okmeydani district is home to many Alevis, who follow a progressive form of Islam that allows men and women to pray together and does not require women to wear religious headscarves.
Traditionally, many Alevis, who make us as much as a fifth of the population in Turkey, support left of center political parties.
Analysts say it is a coincidence the dozen or so people killed by security forces in a year of political unrest were Alevis.
But they warn the coincidence is exacerbating deep suspicions of the sect by the ruling AK party and its supporters, many whom are pious orthodox Sunni Muslims.
Professor Istar Gozaydin of Istanbul's Dogus University says the current political strife is stirring ancient tensions.
"They (Alevis) are sort of heretics in the eyes of Sunni Muslims. The Alevis have been experiencing all sorts of atrocities, discriminations. Unfortunately that is still continuing today," he said.
Tensions are on the rise as Prime Minister Erdogan hits the campaign trail. He is expected to run for president in elections this August.
Critics accuse him of using increasingly sectarian language to drum up support among pious supporters and of implying that Alevis are part of a plot against him.
In response, thousands of Alevis have been on the streets of Istanbul protesting prejudice and police brutality.
This teacher who did not give her name says she is worried the AK party is stoking a religious polarization.
"I feel that I am not a part of this country. I feel the government wants us to live the way they want. Some conservative Muslims do not like Alevis. Alevis (have been) massacred in this country, 50, 100, 200 people were killed. It can happen to us to, so I am afraid."
The religious affairs directorate that administers the Muslim faith in Turkey is the Diyanet. Its deputy head, Mehmet Pacaci, says the tensions need to be confronted.
"Actually the Diyanet, will have a role to ease this tension. Of course there is a tension. There is a kind of stereotype. Misconceptions are on both sides as well. So yes there are many things to do, for Diyanet as well, and we will find a way to solve this problem," he said.
Last year’s mass protests were provoked by a plan to redevelop Gezi Park, and now that the homes of the Alevis are due to be pulled down, Turkey's next battleground could be the Okmeydani district.
Thailand: Thailand's junta flexes its muscles online
IFEX
Thailand's military took over the country in a coup d'état last month. As part of its seizure of the apparatus of government, it has also taken steps to extend its control over the country's Internet users. The army immediately "asked for the cooperation" of Thai ISPs to block over 200 new web sites, including independent sites such as Prachatai, and, briefly, Facebook. Global Voices author Aim Sinpeng describes the situation in Thailand as an "information war," adding that the push for censorship is driven by the newly-formed National Peace and Order Maintaining Council's fear that "non-censored information flows could pose further challenges to the military rule and the state on the whole." ISPs and government officials in the country are already talking about re-engineering the country's infrastructure to create a single government-controlled gateway to better allow pervasive site censorship and surveillance. The Thai police have reiterated that even "liking" an online message critical of the junta is a crime.
Offline criticism of growing Internet interference is being silenced too. Thai advocates for an open Internet and prominent bloggers have been included in the coup's regular round-ups of academics, journalists, and politicians. Individuals have been held without charge at army camps, and threatened with further punishment if they criticize or challenge the regime. Among the summoned speakers have been Internet law expert Sawatree Suksri of Thammasat University, who was released over the weekend, and online activist Sombat Boonngamanong, whom the authorities claim was tracked down and located by his IP address prior to his arrest.
The ease with which the military has been able to pressure ISPs to submit to their controls and intimidate the Thai population has come from years of escalating online interference imposed by both military-supported administrations and the recent elected government the coup effectively deposed. The last military coup Thailand suffered was in 2006, when the Internet was on the cusp of popular adoption in the country. While some - mostly pornographic - sites had previously been blocked by ISPs, the country's undemocratic leaders quickly ramped up the level of political censorship online. One of the first pieces of legislation passed in the subsequent, unelected, administration was the Computer Crime Act, a broad law that create heavy penalties for vague "cyber-crimes", and placed criminal liability on any intermediary who allowed unlawful content to be distributed- including comments critical of the king, or lèse-majesté, a crime frequently used to suppress political critiques by all sides of Thailand's political spectrum.
The last elected Thai government, led by Yingluck Shinawatra, was little better, increasing funding for the online policing of lèse-majesté, overseeing officials who threatened to close down sites critical of Yingluck, criminalizing Facebook "likes" and social media sharing, and announcing their intention to monitor private communications on Line, a Japanese instant-messaging service popular in Thailand. Many proposals that were mooted during the civilian administration are now being enforced by the same officials under military rule.
Thailand's oscillations between democracy and military rule are bad for its economy and politics, but they are proving fatal to its Internet freedoms. Without a period of reform and free criticism, the country risks escalating its suppression of online speech until it becomes impossible for democracy and stability to flourish, under martial law or not.
Thailand's military took over the country in a coup d'état last month. As part of its seizure of the apparatus of government, it has also taken steps to extend its control over the country's Internet users. The army immediately "asked for the cooperation" of Thai ISPs to block over 200 new web sites, including independent sites such as Prachatai, and, briefly, Facebook. Global Voices author Aim Sinpeng describes the situation in Thailand as an "information war," adding that the push for censorship is driven by the newly-formed National Peace and Order Maintaining Council's fear that "non-censored information flows could pose further challenges to the military rule and the state on the whole." ISPs and government officials in the country are already talking about re-engineering the country's infrastructure to create a single government-controlled gateway to better allow pervasive site censorship and surveillance. The Thai police have reiterated that even "liking" an online message critical of the junta is a crime.
Offline criticism of growing Internet interference is being silenced too. Thai advocates for an open Internet and prominent bloggers have been included in the coup's regular round-ups of academics, journalists, and politicians. Individuals have been held without charge at army camps, and threatened with further punishment if they criticize or challenge the regime. Among the summoned speakers have been Internet law expert Sawatree Suksri of Thammasat University, who was released over the weekend, and online activist Sombat Boonngamanong, whom the authorities claim was tracked down and located by his IP address prior to his arrest.
The ease with which the military has been able to pressure ISPs to submit to their controls and intimidate the Thai population has come from years of escalating online interference imposed by both military-supported administrations and the recent elected government the coup effectively deposed. The last military coup Thailand suffered was in 2006, when the Internet was on the cusp of popular adoption in the country. While some - mostly pornographic - sites had previously been blocked by ISPs, the country's undemocratic leaders quickly ramped up the level of political censorship online. One of the first pieces of legislation passed in the subsequent, unelected, administration was the Computer Crime Act, a broad law that create heavy penalties for vague "cyber-crimes", and placed criminal liability on any intermediary who allowed unlawful content to be distributed- including comments critical of the king, or lèse-majesté, a crime frequently used to suppress political critiques by all sides of Thailand's political spectrum.
The last elected Thai government, led by Yingluck Shinawatra, was little better, increasing funding for the online policing of lèse-majesté, overseeing officials who threatened to close down sites critical of Yingluck, criminalizing Facebook "likes" and social media sharing, and announcing their intention to monitor private communications on Line, a Japanese instant-messaging service popular in Thailand. Many proposals that were mooted during the civilian administration are now being enforced by the same officials under military rule.
Thailand's oscillations between democracy and military rule are bad for its economy and politics, but they are proving fatal to its Internet freedoms. Without a period of reform and free criticism, the country risks escalating its suppression of online speech until it becomes impossible for democracy and stability to flourish, under martial law or not.
Ukraine:Ukraine may start to get shale gas from US
16.06.2014 | Source: Pravda.Ru
The introduction of prepayment system
for gas for Ukraine is the only possible move, the head of the State
Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs, Alexei Pushkov said. The MP believes
that Russia should have acted so a month ago.
"Let Yatsenuk get shale gas from the United States," Pushkov wrote on his Twitter today, June 16.
Earlier, the MP called for the cessation of gas talks with Kiev after the Russian embassy was attacked by radicals, and a crew of TV channel Zvezda was detained in the east of Ukraine.
"I believe that Russia should move to sanctions against Ukraine. In my opinion, it's time all negotiations on the gas issue should be stopped. I consider the talks in Kiev inappropriate at the time when the Russian embassy in Kiev is attacked, the government is silent about it, the police is idle, and Ukraine's Foreign Minister offends the Russian president. What negotiations? These negotiations must be stopped, and so must gas supplies to Ukraine," he said in a June 15 interview with Russia 24 TV channel.
Kiev was supposed to pay $1.951 billion for Russian gas before 10:00 MSK on June 16, but has not transferred the necessary amount. In this connection, Gazprom introduced the prepayment system for Naftogaz Ukraine.
"The decision was made due to chronic non-payment from Naftogaz of Ukraine. The arrears of the company for supplied Russian gas makes up $4,458 billion: $1.451 billion in November-December of 2013 and 3.007 billion in April-May of 2014," a statement from Russia's Gazprom said, ITAR-TASS reports. During the recent several weeks, nine rounds of talks have been held on the gas issue, but the last one of them has not led to any progress.
"Let Yatsenuk get shale gas from the United States," Pushkov wrote on his Twitter today, June 16.
Earlier, the MP called for the cessation of gas talks with Kiev after the Russian embassy was attacked by radicals, and a crew of TV channel Zvezda was detained in the east of Ukraine.
"I believe that Russia should move to sanctions against Ukraine. In my opinion, it's time all negotiations on the gas issue should be stopped. I consider the talks in Kiev inappropriate at the time when the Russian embassy in Kiev is attacked, the government is silent about it, the police is idle, and Ukraine's Foreign Minister offends the Russian president. What negotiations? These negotiations must be stopped, and so must gas supplies to Ukraine," he said in a June 15 interview with Russia 24 TV channel.
Kiev was supposed to pay $1.951 billion for Russian gas before 10:00 MSK on June 16, but has not transferred the necessary amount. In this connection, Gazprom introduced the prepayment system for Naftogaz Ukraine.
"The decision was made due to chronic non-payment from Naftogaz of Ukraine. The arrears of the company for supplied Russian gas makes up $4,458 billion: $1.451 billion in November-December of 2013 and 3.007 billion in April-May of 2014," a statement from Russia's Gazprom said, ITAR-TASS reports. During the recent several weeks, nine rounds of talks have been held on the gas issue, but the last one of them has not led to any progress.
On June 16, Gazprom's administration
filed a lawsuit at the Stockholm International Court of Arbitration
against Naftogaz of Ukraine to collect the debt of $4.5 billion from the
Ukrainian gas company. A message from the Russian company said that
Naftogaz of Ukraine failed to execute its obligations under the contract
signed in 2009.
Dominican Republic: Beware an Uncertain Dawn in the Dominican Republic
Source: Open Society Foundations
Beware an Uncertain Dawn in the Dominican Republic
For decades, the Dominican Republic’s treatment of those who trace their roots back to neighboring Haiti has been a disgrace. Their citizenship rights have long been denied as a matter of policy, and in 2010 the Dominican constitution’s citizenship provisions were changed, all to combat the supposed threat that French names and darker skin pose to “Dominican” culture and society.
Now, some are hailing a bright new dawn of human rights in Santo Domingo, as a new law on naturalization supposedly creates a pathway to Dominican citizenship for tens of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent. The law is significant, as an acknowledgement by the government that something is profoundly wrong. Unfortunately, it also managed to make a bad situation worse.
What the law does is divide individuals with immigrant ancestry born in the country since 1929 into categories. The first group is those whose births were registered by the Dominican authorities. These individuals will now—after some administrative adjustments yet to be revealed—be considered Dominican citizens. The second group is people whose births were never registered. They are now to register as foreigners, will receive a ‘migratory permit’, and will be eligible—but not guaranteed—to ‘naturalize’ as Dominican citizens in due course. There’s a third group, those who have birth registration but whose documents that are suspected to be the result of fraud or ‘impersonation’ (sometimes parents of Haitian descent would ask others to register their children, simply so that they could be registered). These are to be subject to investigation by undisclosed means.
There are a lot of devilish details here, but let’s concentrate on the unprecedented way that the law makes citizenship dependent not on the actual fact of birth in the country – provable with a range of evidence such as medical records, baptismal records, school records, and more – but on whether or not the government registered the birth. This no basis upon which to grant citizenship, and Dominican Republic itself shows why.
The Dominican bureaucracy has been so discriminatory and erratic over the decades there that it’s common to find families in which some children were registered at birth, while others were not. Less than ten years ago, Santo Domingo was condemned by the Inter-American Court for refusing to register the births of children of Haitian descent. It would be fairer to ask people to answer a riddle to determine their citizenship, or to throw darts at a board. At least then the outcome would be marginally within their control.
Those who have birth registration, superficially better off, are still left in a state of insecurity, since their citizenship isn’t (any longer) based on a constitutional right, but on this particular law’s provisions, which will expire in a couple of years, leaving anyone who hasn’t managed to navigate the bureaucracy in permanent limbo.
The US grants citizenship the same way the DR did until 2010—to individuals who were born on the territory. This principle is virtually universal in the western hemisphere. It links citizenship to independently verifiable facts that are relevant to a person’s belonging to a country, linguistically and culturally, leaving ancestry (imputed or otherwise) out of the equation. This is logical: a person’s identity and consequent rights can’t be determined by administrative fiat. In basing citizenship on birth registration, the Dominican Republic is taking away the very right to have rights, substituting instead the whims, acts and omissions of local government bureaucrats over 71 years.
The solution is for the Dominican Republic to accept that some of its citizens are a bit darker than others, and, yes, may even have Haitian-sounding names and ancestry: their citizenship should not be jeopardized by legally entrenched or individually-perpetrated racism. The Dominican Republic needs to accept that pursuing an ethnically-pure nation is incompatible with the rule of law, even when the pursuit is decked out in court rulings and legislation.
U.S. citizens of Dominican ancestry who got citizenship through being born here should speak out about how the principle guarantees equality of opportunity and builds a great nation. And Vice President Joe Biden, when he visits Santo Domingo on Monday, June 16, should make it clear that while taking one step forwards after you have taken five steps back is a good thing, it is still not enough.
Beware an Uncertain Dawn in the Dominican Republic
For decades, the Dominican Republic’s treatment of those who trace their roots back to neighboring Haiti has been a disgrace. Their citizenship rights have long been denied as a matter of policy, and in 2010 the Dominican constitution’s citizenship provisions were changed, all to combat the supposed threat that French names and darker skin pose to “Dominican” culture and society.
Now, some are hailing a bright new dawn of human rights in Santo Domingo, as a new law on naturalization supposedly creates a pathway to Dominican citizenship for tens of thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent. The law is significant, as an acknowledgement by the government that something is profoundly wrong. Unfortunately, it also managed to make a bad situation worse.
What the law does is divide individuals with immigrant ancestry born in the country since 1929 into categories. The first group is those whose births were registered by the Dominican authorities. These individuals will now—after some administrative adjustments yet to be revealed—be considered Dominican citizens. The second group is people whose births were never registered. They are now to register as foreigners, will receive a ‘migratory permit’, and will be eligible—but not guaranteed—to ‘naturalize’ as Dominican citizens in due course. There’s a third group, those who have birth registration but whose documents that are suspected to be the result of fraud or ‘impersonation’ (sometimes parents of Haitian descent would ask others to register their children, simply so that they could be registered). These are to be subject to investigation by undisclosed means.
There are a lot of devilish details here, but let’s concentrate on the unprecedented way that the law makes citizenship dependent not on the actual fact of birth in the country – provable with a range of evidence such as medical records, baptismal records, school records, and more – but on whether or not the government registered the birth. This no basis upon which to grant citizenship, and Dominican Republic itself shows why.
The Dominican bureaucracy has been so discriminatory and erratic over the decades there that it’s common to find families in which some children were registered at birth, while others were not. Less than ten years ago, Santo Domingo was condemned by the Inter-American Court for refusing to register the births of children of Haitian descent. It would be fairer to ask people to answer a riddle to determine their citizenship, or to throw darts at a board. At least then the outcome would be marginally within their control.
Those who have birth registration, superficially better off, are still left in a state of insecurity, since their citizenship isn’t (any longer) based on a constitutional right, but on this particular law’s provisions, which will expire in a couple of years, leaving anyone who hasn’t managed to navigate the bureaucracy in permanent limbo.
The US grants citizenship the same way the DR did until 2010—to individuals who were born on the territory. This principle is virtually universal in the western hemisphere. It links citizenship to independently verifiable facts that are relevant to a person’s belonging to a country, linguistically and culturally, leaving ancestry (imputed or otherwise) out of the equation. This is logical: a person’s identity and consequent rights can’t be determined by administrative fiat. In basing citizenship on birth registration, the Dominican Republic is taking away the very right to have rights, substituting instead the whims, acts and omissions of local government bureaucrats over 71 years.
The solution is for the Dominican Republic to accept that some of its citizens are a bit darker than others, and, yes, may even have Haitian-sounding names and ancestry: their citizenship should not be jeopardized by legally entrenched or individually-perpetrated racism. The Dominican Republic needs to accept that pursuing an ethnically-pure nation is incompatible with the rule of law, even when the pursuit is decked out in court rulings and legislation.
U.S. citizens of Dominican ancestry who got citizenship through being born here should speak out about how the principle guarantees equality of opportunity and builds a great nation. And Vice President Joe Biden, when he visits Santo Domingo on Monday, June 16, should make it clear that while taking one step forwards after you have taken five steps back is a good thing, it is still not enough.
Cambodia: Cambodia's Scam Orphanages | The New York Times
In Cambodia, less than a quarter of children in orphanages are actual orphans.
Produced by: Poypiti Amatatham and Thomas Fuller
Read the story here: http://nyti.ms/1p9GcVK
Produced by: Poypiti Amatatham and Thomas Fuller
Read the story here: http://nyti.ms/1p9GcVK
Corruption: New Mexico - Governor’s campaign manager pleads guilty to computer instrusion charges
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of New Mexico
WASHINGTON—Jamie Estrada, 41, of Los Lunas, New Mexico, pleaded guilty this afternoon to the unlawful interception of electronic communications and false statement charges arising out of the unlawful interception of wire communications intended for others, including New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez and members of her staff.
In announcing Estrada’s guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez said, “Each and every one of us has a right and an expectation of privacy in our electronic communications, including our e-mails, and those who violate the law by diverting, stealing, or otherwise misappropriating our private communications should face serious consequences. At a time when so much of our personal, professional, and financial information is repeatedly transmitted on a daily basis by e-mail and other wireless devices, the Department of Justice is committed to protecting Americans from those who seek to violate their privacy.”
“The right to privacy has been a cornerstone of our democracy since its founding and remains true today in our high-tech world. All Americans, regardless of the jobs or the positions they hold, deserve to have their e-mails and other computer transactions protected from criminals who would steal and exploit confidential information for unlawful purposes,” said Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI. “I thank the FBI special agents and professional staff who worked on this case, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their successful prosecution. While much has changed since our nation was established, one thing has not: Americans rely on their government to protect their rights, and that’s a duty the FBI takes very seriously.”
Estrada was charged in a 14-count indictment filed in May 2013. The first 12 counts of the indictment alleged that, between July 2011 and June 2012, Estrada unlawfully intercepted wire communication intended for individuals who had e-mail accounts on an Internet domain owned by the governor’s political organization. The final two counts charged Estrada with making false statements to the FBI in September 2012, in which he denied taking certain actions to unlawfully intercept wire communications as charged in first 12 counts of the indictment. The indictment subsequently was superseded in October 2013 and May 2014 to add two more false statement charges.
According to court filings, in summer 2009, Governor Martinez, who was then the District Attorney in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, began assembling a political campaign as she prepared to enter the November 2010 gubernatorial race. In July 2009, a political supporter of the Governor registered an Internet domain designated as susana2010.com (the domain) for a two-year period through an online service. The supporter donated the domain, including its username and password, to the governor’s political organization. The username and password were required for making administrative changes to the domain, including posting content to the domain’s website and creating e-mail accounts associated with the domain. They also were required to renew the registration for the domain, which was scheduled to expire on July 18, 2011. As the owner of the domain, the governor’s political organization had the exclusive right to renew the registration before it expired and during a 42-day grace period following the expiration date.
During the gubernatorial campaign, the domain became an important tool for the governor’s political organization. Members of the campaign staff, including the governor, maintained e-mail accounts on the domain that they used to communicate with each other, the governor’s political supporters, and the media. Estrada, who joined the governor’s political organization as the campaign manager in July 2009, was provided with the username and password for the domain. When Estrada left the campaign in December 2009, the governor requested that he cooperate in efforts to remove his access to and privileges regarding the campaign’s accounts.
After Governor Martinez was inaugurated in January 2011, the governor, members of her staff, and others continued to use the e-mail accounts associated with the domain. In July 2011, individuals who had e-mail accounts on the domain began receiving reports that e-mails sent to those accounts were bouncing back to the senders and soon determined that the e-mails were not getting delivered because the domain had expired. Their efforts to re-register the domain were unsuccessful because they could not locate or recall the domain’s username and password. In July 2011 and as part of their efforts to locate the username and password, the governor’s staff asked Estrada to provide this information and he did not respond.
During today’s hearing, Estrada entered guilty pleas to counts six and 16 of the second superseding indictment, charging him with unlawful interception of electronic communications and false statements, respectively. In his plea agreement, Estrada admitted that on July 29, 2011, he logged onto the domain and altered the customer profile using a fictitious name with a Colorado address. Estrada also admitted renewing the domain under the fictitious name and paid for the renewal with a pre-paid gift card so that the renewal could not be traced back to him.
According to the plea agreement, Estrada changed the settings for the domain to direct all incoming e-mail to an e-mail account he controlled so that the e-mails were routed to him instead of the intended recipients. From July 2011 through June 2012, Estrada intercepted hundreds of e-mail messages intended for recipients at the domain, including the governor. The intercepted e-mails included personal e-mails, internal political communications, and e-mails from ordinary citizens to the governor or her staff. In his plea agreement, Estrada admitted sharing the e-mails he unlawfully intercepted with the governor’s political opponents to disseminate the e-mails to news media and other outlets.
Estrada admitted unlawfully intercepting an e-mail dated January 4, 2012, which was entitled “Confidential RGA [Republican Governors’ Association] Update” and was intended for the governor, as charged in count six of the second superseding indictment. In his plea agreement, he also acknowledged unlawfully intercepting the 11 other e-mails described in counts one through five and seven through 12 of the indictment.
Estrada also admitted making false statements to FBI agents on September 19, 2012, when they executed a search warrant at his residence. Specifically, Estrada told the FBI agents that he had not paid for the renewal of the Domain using a pre-paid gift card as charged in count 16 of the second superseding indictment. In his plea agreement, he also acknowledged making the false statements charged in counts 13, 14, and 15 of the indictment.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Estrada faces a sentence of zero to a year and a day in federal prison. The remaining components of Estrada’s sentence, including the length and conditions of his supervised release and any fine or restitution, will be determined by the court.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque Division of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Fred J. Federici and Jeremy Pena.
District of New Mexico
WASHINGTON—Jamie Estrada, 41, of Los Lunas, New Mexico, pleaded guilty this afternoon to the unlawful interception of electronic communications and false statement charges arising out of the unlawful interception of wire communications intended for others, including New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez and members of her staff.
In announcing Estrada’s guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez said, “Each and every one of us has a right and an expectation of privacy in our electronic communications, including our e-mails, and those who violate the law by diverting, stealing, or otherwise misappropriating our private communications should face serious consequences. At a time when so much of our personal, professional, and financial information is repeatedly transmitted on a daily basis by e-mail and other wireless devices, the Department of Justice is committed to protecting Americans from those who seek to violate their privacy.”
“The right to privacy has been a cornerstone of our democracy since its founding and remains true today in our high-tech world. All Americans, regardless of the jobs or the positions they hold, deserve to have their e-mails and other computer transactions protected from criminals who would steal and exploit confidential information for unlawful purposes,” said Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI. “I thank the FBI special agents and professional staff who worked on this case, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their successful prosecution. While much has changed since our nation was established, one thing has not: Americans rely on their government to protect their rights, and that’s a duty the FBI takes very seriously.”
Estrada was charged in a 14-count indictment filed in May 2013. The first 12 counts of the indictment alleged that, between July 2011 and June 2012, Estrada unlawfully intercepted wire communication intended for individuals who had e-mail accounts on an Internet domain owned by the governor’s political organization. The final two counts charged Estrada with making false statements to the FBI in September 2012, in which he denied taking certain actions to unlawfully intercept wire communications as charged in first 12 counts of the indictment. The indictment subsequently was superseded in October 2013 and May 2014 to add two more false statement charges.
According to court filings, in summer 2009, Governor Martinez, who was then the District Attorney in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, began assembling a political campaign as she prepared to enter the November 2010 gubernatorial race. In July 2009, a political supporter of the Governor registered an Internet domain designated as susana2010.com (the domain) for a two-year period through an online service. The supporter donated the domain, including its username and password, to the governor’s political organization. The username and password were required for making administrative changes to the domain, including posting content to the domain’s website and creating e-mail accounts associated with the domain. They also were required to renew the registration for the domain, which was scheduled to expire on July 18, 2011. As the owner of the domain, the governor’s political organization had the exclusive right to renew the registration before it expired and during a 42-day grace period following the expiration date.
During the gubernatorial campaign, the domain became an important tool for the governor’s political organization. Members of the campaign staff, including the governor, maintained e-mail accounts on the domain that they used to communicate with each other, the governor’s political supporters, and the media. Estrada, who joined the governor’s political organization as the campaign manager in July 2009, was provided with the username and password for the domain. When Estrada left the campaign in December 2009, the governor requested that he cooperate in efforts to remove his access to and privileges regarding the campaign’s accounts.
After Governor Martinez was inaugurated in January 2011, the governor, members of her staff, and others continued to use the e-mail accounts associated with the domain. In July 2011, individuals who had e-mail accounts on the domain began receiving reports that e-mails sent to those accounts were bouncing back to the senders and soon determined that the e-mails were not getting delivered because the domain had expired. Their efforts to re-register the domain were unsuccessful because they could not locate or recall the domain’s username and password. In July 2011 and as part of their efforts to locate the username and password, the governor’s staff asked Estrada to provide this information and he did not respond.
During today’s hearing, Estrada entered guilty pleas to counts six and 16 of the second superseding indictment, charging him with unlawful interception of electronic communications and false statements, respectively. In his plea agreement, Estrada admitted that on July 29, 2011, he logged onto the domain and altered the customer profile using a fictitious name with a Colorado address. Estrada also admitted renewing the domain under the fictitious name and paid for the renewal with a pre-paid gift card so that the renewal could not be traced back to him.
According to the plea agreement, Estrada changed the settings for the domain to direct all incoming e-mail to an e-mail account he controlled so that the e-mails were routed to him instead of the intended recipients. From July 2011 through June 2012, Estrada intercepted hundreds of e-mail messages intended for recipients at the domain, including the governor. The intercepted e-mails included personal e-mails, internal political communications, and e-mails from ordinary citizens to the governor or her staff. In his plea agreement, Estrada admitted sharing the e-mails he unlawfully intercepted with the governor’s political opponents to disseminate the e-mails to news media and other outlets.
Estrada admitted unlawfully intercepting an e-mail dated January 4, 2012, which was entitled “Confidential RGA [Republican Governors’ Association] Update” and was intended for the governor, as charged in count six of the second superseding indictment. In his plea agreement, he also acknowledged unlawfully intercepting the 11 other e-mails described in counts one through five and seven through 12 of the indictment.
Estrada also admitted making false statements to FBI agents on September 19, 2012, when they executed a search warrant at his residence. Specifically, Estrada told the FBI agents that he had not paid for the renewal of the Domain using a pre-paid gift card as charged in count 16 of the second superseding indictment. In his plea agreement, he also acknowledged making the false statements charged in counts 13, 14, and 15 of the indictment.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Estrada faces a sentence of zero to a year and a day in federal prison. The remaining components of Estrada’s sentence, including the length and conditions of his supervised release and any fine or restitution, will be determined by the court.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque Division of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Fred J. Federici and Jeremy Pena.
UN: General Assembly confirms Jordan’s Prince Zeid as new UN human rights chief
UN - The United Nations General Assembly today unanimously approved Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein of Jordan as the new High Commissioner for Human Rights, succeeding Navi Pillay of South Africa.
“I am going to be the first High Commissioner from the Asian continent and from the Muslim and Arab worlds,” Prince Zeid said after the 193-member body approved his appointment by consensus.
“Needless to say this reflects the commitment of the international community towards this important dossier and its commitment to push it forward in this continent as well as in other regions of the world,” he added.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon nominated Prince Zeid, who is currently Jordan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, earlier this month to replace Ms. Pillay, whose term lasts until the end of August.
After the world body approved his nomination by applause, Prince Zeid joked: “My supportive wife told me to enjoy this moment, to soak it all up, after all, she said, you are among friends who you’ve known for a very long time. Because when you start this job, she added, you may not have them for very long.”
Headquartered in Geneva, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is mandated to promote and protect the enjoyment and full realization, by all people, of all rights established in the UN Charter and in international human rights laws and treaties.
The mandate includes preventing human rights violations, securing respect for all human rights, promoting international cooperation to protect human rights, coordinating related activities throughout the UN, and strengthening and streamlining the UN system in the field of human rights. In addition to its mandated responsibilities, the Office leads efforts to integrate a human rights approach within all work carried out by UN agencies.
Climate Change: Learning about climate change the Pacific way
Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Children across the Pacific are set to receive a visual learning aid that will help them understand climate change processes and encourage them to get active in adaptation and mitigation. A new picture-based education resource called ‘Learning about Climate Change the Pacific Way’ has been produced for students, teachers and facilitators. It includes posters and country-specific teacher guides that illustrate and explain key concepts such as climate, the causes and effects of climate change, and adaptation and mitigation options for Pacific Islands.
An initial supply of 6000 copies of the resource will be printed and distributed through ministries of education to primary and secondary schools in Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. It was developed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in partnership with the German Agency for International Cooperation through the Coping with Climate Change in the Pacific Islands Region (CCCPIR) Programme and in collaboration with the ministries of education and relevant government agencies in each of the countries. Seed funding was provided by the Australian Government through the Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Planning Program (PACCSAP).
‘Learning about Climate Change the Pacific Way’ was officially launched on Thursday 5 June 2014 at De Vos on the Park hotel in Suva, Fiji, by the Fiji Ministry of Education with climate change focal points from the Governments of Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.
The resource consists of 16 illustrated posters that depict the water cycle, Pacific islands and global climate, causes of climate change, interrelationships between different factors, how the climate is changing in five Pacific Island countries, and mitigation and adaptation measures that can be implemented through gardening, forestry and fishing activities and in a town centre. Copies of the resource are available online (http://www.spc.int/cc-project/).
The accompanying teacher guides provide background information and ideas for hands-on teaching activities. These have been designed to assist teachers to provide practical and engaging instruction methods that deliver key messages on climate change science for learners of any age.
Special attention will be given to training teachers so they and their students can gain maximum benefit from the new resource.
Ms Alumeci Tuisawau, Director of Technology Employment Skills Training at the Fiji Ministry of Education, National Heritage, Culture and Arts, says, ‘The resource is very timely… we want to use Learning about Climate Change the Pacific Way to train teachers.’
The Kiribati Teachers College pre-tested the resource by training 55 teachers in Abaiang, an outer island in Kiribati. Ms Carol Young, an education specialist employed to assist with the training, says: “The resource was very well received in Kiribati and the suggested learning activities were immediately used by teachers in their classrooms. Students were very excited as they could recognise their environment in the pictures and they got active with drama and singing.”
Further funding was provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United States Agency for International Development. Funding was provided through the CCCPIR programme and the Enhanced Climate Change Resilience of Food Production Systems in Pacific Island Countries and Territories project respectively.
The Australian Department for the Environment, United States Embassy, Pacific Regional Environmental Program (SPREP), Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development of the University of the South Pacific (USP) and SEREAD helped to celebrate the launch.
SPREP, USP, SEREAD, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also provided technical advice and input during the development of the resource.
Children across the Pacific are set to receive a visual learning aid that will help them understand climate change processes and encourage them to get active in adaptation and mitigation. A new picture-based education resource called ‘Learning about Climate Change the Pacific Way’ has been produced for students, teachers and facilitators. It includes posters and country-specific teacher guides that illustrate and explain key concepts such as climate, the causes and effects of climate change, and adaptation and mitigation options for Pacific Islands.
An initial supply of 6000 copies of the resource will be printed and distributed through ministries of education to primary and secondary schools in Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. It was developed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in partnership with the German Agency for International Cooperation through the Coping with Climate Change in the Pacific Islands Region (CCCPIR) Programme and in collaboration with the ministries of education and relevant government agencies in each of the countries. Seed funding was provided by the Australian Government through the Pacific-Australia Climate Change Science and Adaptation Planning Program (PACCSAP).
‘Learning about Climate Change the Pacific Way’ was officially launched on Thursday 5 June 2014 at De Vos on the Park hotel in Suva, Fiji, by the Fiji Ministry of Education with climate change focal points from the Governments of Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.
The resource consists of 16 illustrated posters that depict the water cycle, Pacific islands and global climate, causes of climate change, interrelationships between different factors, how the climate is changing in five Pacific Island countries, and mitigation and adaptation measures that can be implemented through gardening, forestry and fishing activities and in a town centre. Copies of the resource are available online (http://www.spc.int/cc-project/).
The accompanying teacher guides provide background information and ideas for hands-on teaching activities. These have been designed to assist teachers to provide practical and engaging instruction methods that deliver key messages on climate change science for learners of any age.
Special attention will be given to training teachers so they and their students can gain maximum benefit from the new resource.
Ms Alumeci Tuisawau, Director of Technology Employment Skills Training at the Fiji Ministry of Education, National Heritage, Culture and Arts, says, ‘The resource is very timely… we want to use Learning about Climate Change the Pacific Way to train teachers.’
The Kiribati Teachers College pre-tested the resource by training 55 teachers in Abaiang, an outer island in Kiribati. Ms Carol Young, an education specialist employed to assist with the training, says: “The resource was very well received in Kiribati and the suggested learning activities were immediately used by teachers in their classrooms. Students were very excited as they could recognise their environment in the pictures and they got active with drama and singing.”
Further funding was provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United States Agency for International Development. Funding was provided through the CCCPIR programme and the Enhanced Climate Change Resilience of Food Production Systems in Pacific Island Countries and Territories project respectively.
The Australian Department for the Environment, United States Embassy, Pacific Regional Environmental Program (SPREP), Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development of the University of the South Pacific (USP) and SEREAD helped to celebrate the launch.
SPREP, USP, SEREAD, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also provided technical advice and input during the development of the resource.
Pakistan: Pakistan’s traumatized war children play soldiers and Taliban
Photo: Fakhar Kakahel/IRIN No child's play: Pakistan's tribally-administered territories have been affected by nearly a decade of conflict
Source: IRIN
More than 60,000 people have fled North Waziristan Agency to safer parts
of Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan as Pakistan’s military
launches an offensive in the region. Most of the people fleeing are children, and mental health experts are concerned that they will not have access to proper trauma care.
The Pakistani authorities have yet to set up camps to shelter the displaced, and what little mental health aid is available - usually at makeshift clinics in formal IDP camps - is out of reach for the North Waziristan children.
Psychiatrists treating residents of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in the northwest are especially worried about the long-term effects of conflict on the children there. In regions like North Waziristan Agency and Khyber Agency, children have been living with armed conflict for nearly a decade. They have witnessed military operations, Taliban attacks and drone strikes, and the results of these. Many children have grown up knowing only war, and the long-term effects of what they are experiencing worries mental health professionals.
New games, new behaviour
As an aeroplane takes off from Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, children living in a nearby camp for internally displaced persons rush to their shelters, shouting, “Jet! Jet!”
Habib Afridi, 37, told IRIN: “Our children are still trying to escape from the memories at home.” After a military offensive was launched in his native Khyber Agency, Afridi and fourteen family members moved to Peshawar to live with relatives. “In Tirah [valley], in Khyber Agency, it was very normal that when a jet appeared in the skies it meant to bomb [the area], so for our children every flying machine making a loud noise means bomber jets.”
More than 43 percent of the population in FATA are under the age of 14, according to official figures, which means a large part of the population have grown up knowing war. Children are often doubly affected by the conflict, says Sana Ijaz, who has worked with children in FATA through the Bacha Khan Trust Education Foundation, a local NGO.
Often they cannot turn to the adults in their household - usually their mother - for comfort and counselling, as many adults have themselves been traumatized by the war. “Mothers are facing extreme forms of post-traumatic stress disorder,” Ijaz told IRIN. “It includes their feeling of insecurity and loss in [the] conflict, [and] they are fostering these problems in their kids.”
The lack of support makes it even more difficult for children to understand the situations they see outside their homes. In Datta Khel, a district west of Miran Shah, about 17km from the Afghan border and a popular corridor for insurgents travelling to Afghanistan, US drones have struck more than 50 times, killing hundreds of militants and civilians. People call them “ghangay” - literally from the noise the drone engines make, which is locally heard as "ghang-ghang" but has evolved into ghangay. Now, anything that sounds similar sends the children scrambling for cover.
In the afternoons, children make their way out of mud-walled homes to gather on bare hills to play before the evening lesson at the local madrassa. Here, cops-and-robbers is now soldiers-and-Taliban. Around 10 children divide into two groups, one acting as the military, the other as the Taliban. Most want to be in the Taliban.
Four children with sticks, pretending to be soldiers, try to find the Taliban, who fan out to hide. The Taliban always outnumber the soldiers. They ambush the soldiers, and the children throw dust into the air to imitate explosions, and then capture the soldiers.
An “amir” (leader) - an older child - delivers a victory speech. “O Infidels, beware! Whoever works for you will face the same consequences. These are traitors of Islam. They sold their honour for dollars. Death to them!” The rest of children shout “God is Great!”. When a kite appears in the sky the children rush to safety, shouting, “ghangay, ghangay!!” The children pretending to be soldiers laugh and run with the rest.
The Pakistani authorities have yet to set up camps to shelter the displaced, and what little mental health aid is available - usually at makeshift clinics in formal IDP camps - is out of reach for the North Waziristan children.
Psychiatrists treating residents of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in the northwest are especially worried about the long-term effects of conflict on the children there. In regions like North Waziristan Agency and Khyber Agency, children have been living with armed conflict for nearly a decade. They have witnessed military operations, Taliban attacks and drone strikes, and the results of these. Many children have grown up knowing only war, and the long-term effects of what they are experiencing worries mental health professionals.
New games, new behaviour
As an aeroplane takes off from Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, children living in a nearby camp for internally displaced persons rush to their shelters, shouting, “Jet! Jet!”
Habib Afridi, 37, told IRIN: “Our children are still trying to escape from the memories at home.” After a military offensive was launched in his native Khyber Agency, Afridi and fourteen family members moved to Peshawar to live with relatives. “In Tirah [valley], in Khyber Agency, it was very normal that when a jet appeared in the skies it meant to bomb [the area], so for our children every flying machine making a loud noise means bomber jets.”
More than 43 percent of the population in FATA are under the age of 14, according to official figures, which means a large part of the population have grown up knowing war. Children are often doubly affected by the conflict, says Sana Ijaz, who has worked with children in FATA through the Bacha Khan Trust Education Foundation, a local NGO.
Often they cannot turn to the adults in their household - usually their mother - for comfort and counselling, as many adults have themselves been traumatized by the war. “Mothers are facing extreme forms of post-traumatic stress disorder,” Ijaz told IRIN. “It includes their feeling of insecurity and loss in [the] conflict, [and] they are fostering these problems in their kids.”
The lack of support makes it even more difficult for children to understand the situations they see outside their homes. In Datta Khel, a district west of Miran Shah, about 17km from the Afghan border and a popular corridor for insurgents travelling to Afghanistan, US drones have struck more than 50 times, killing hundreds of militants and civilians. People call them “ghangay” - literally from the noise the drone engines make, which is locally heard as "ghang-ghang" but has evolved into ghangay. Now, anything that sounds similar sends the children scrambling for cover.
In the afternoons, children make their way out of mud-walled homes to gather on bare hills to play before the evening lesson at the local madrassa. Here, cops-and-robbers is now soldiers-and-Taliban. Around 10 children divide into two groups, one acting as the military, the other as the Taliban. Most want to be in the Taliban.
Four children with sticks, pretending to be soldiers, try to find the Taliban, who fan out to hide. The Taliban always outnumber the soldiers. They ambush the soldiers, and the children throw dust into the air to imitate explosions, and then capture the soldiers.
An “amir” (leader) - an older child - delivers a victory speech. “O Infidels, beware! Whoever works for you will face the same consequences. These are traitors of Islam. They sold their honour for dollars. Death to them!” The rest of children shout “God is Great!”. When a kite appears in the sky the children rush to safety, shouting, “ghangay, ghangay!!” The children pretending to be soldiers laugh and run with the rest.
Many schools in FATA have been destroyed, so there is little to offer
the children any distraction from the conflict. The FATA Department of
Education says more than 1,183 schools - a third of the total in the
region - are closed because they have been damaged, or people fear being
caught in the crossfire between the military and the Taliban. In the
schools that are still open there is often a shortage of teachers - in
Bajaur Agency there is one teacher for every 74 students. Only 33
percent of children in the FATA attend school.
Inspired by videos produced by militants, children pretend to be suicide bombers or fighters. Their discussions revolve around the Taliban's latest activities, their attacks and killings. “Even my own children at home were always bringing [home] stories of Al-Qaeda, [the] local Taliban, drone strikes, and killings in Mir Ali, in North Waziristan,” Nasir Dawar, a journalist, told IRIN. “I saw children running and taking shelter under beds whenever drones started hovering in the sky.” The behavioural changes in his children prompted Dawar to resettle his family in Peshawar.
Children overlooked
Dr Mian Iftikhar Hussain's 40-bed private clinic on the outskirts of Peshawar is a busy place as residents from FATA wait to be seen by the overbooked psychiatrist. A family arrives from North Waziristan, the husband hoping the doctor can treat several women in his family suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
“My head is full of noise, I can't sleep,” one of the women tells Hussain, who believes the patient probably witnessed a drone attack close to her.
Muhammad Gul, 70, has come from Bajaur Agency. He hasn't been the same since he witnessed an improvised explosive device (IED) blowing up. His heartbeat is irregular, he shivers constantly, and jumps at any loud noise.
Inspired by videos produced by militants, children pretend to be suicide bombers or fighters. Their discussions revolve around the Taliban's latest activities, their attacks and killings. “Even my own children at home were always bringing [home] stories of Al-Qaeda, [the] local Taliban, drone strikes, and killings in Mir Ali, in North Waziristan,” Nasir Dawar, a journalist, told IRIN. “I saw children running and taking shelter under beds whenever drones started hovering in the sky.” The behavioural changes in his children prompted Dawar to resettle his family in Peshawar.
Children overlooked
Dr Mian Iftikhar Hussain's 40-bed private clinic on the outskirts of Peshawar is a busy place as residents from FATA wait to be seen by the overbooked psychiatrist. A family arrives from North Waziristan, the husband hoping the doctor can treat several women in his family suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
“My head is full of noise, I can't sleep,” one of the women tells Hussain, who believes the patient probably witnessed a drone attack close to her.
Muhammad Gul, 70, has come from Bajaur Agency. He hasn't been the same since he witnessed an improvised explosive device (IED) blowing up. His heartbeat is irregular, he shivers constantly, and jumps at any loud noise.
Pakistan lacks the mental health
resources it needs to treat all the people who need help. A 2009 study
by the World Health Organization found there were only 342 psychiatrists
and 478 psychologists for a population of 190 million. The shortage is
even more acute in the northwest, where the conflict is constant.
Facilities like Hussain’s have been unable to keep up with demand.
In 2011, the Sarhad Hospital for Psychiatric Diseases, one of the largest in the region, treated almost 90,000 patients from FATA, of whom around 50,000 were suffering from disorders caused by the conflict.
“Unfortunately, children are overlooked,” Hussain told IRIN. “[Just the] number of women facing psychological problems is almost four times higher than it was prior to the conflict in FATA.” Less than one percent of the beds in Pakistan are reserved for children and adolescents with mental health problems.
“What I have seen is that there are much deeper and stronger impacts of war on children… Thousands of children [have] lost their childhood,” said Hussain, who has been treating psychiatric patients for nearly three decades. “Stubbornness, tendencies towards violence, rejection of education, [and] an inclination towards drugs and crime are very common among these children of war.”
He points out that “The age from five to fourteen is very sensitive for human development, and unfortunately, much of the population left in conflict-stricken areas is comprised of this age group.”
There are only a handful of government hospitals offering psychiatric treatment to FATA residents, so most patients turn to overcrowded private clinics and commercial hospitals, almost all of which are located in Peshawar, an expensive, four-hour drive from North Waziristan. “The children's situation is even more pathetic, since nobody notices their issues and children cannot explain it [themselves],” said Hussain.
One of the few places children do receive treatment is at relief camps like the Jalozai Camp just outside Peshawar, where more than 12,000 children live, but they are a fraction of those fleeing the war. Millions of FATA residents have been displaced, but the authorities believe less than 20 percent have spent time in relief camps.
“What little resources are available are spent on camps, and that… [covers] only a fraction of the population,” Ali Askar, a professor at the University of Peshawar who is researching the impact of conflict on children, told IRIN.
“The situation is so chaotic that nobody cares about these children and the future of this region,” he said. “If proper attention is not given to these children, they will definitely go on to a life of crime, if they don't become lethal assets for terror networks.”
No fun and games
After 11 September 2001, Al-Qaeda set up special camps in North Waziristan to train children, a task that was overseen for years by the group's top leadership. A special group of child fighters, called Jaish ul Tifal, was set up. The original camps are closed now, and most of the Arab instructors have fled Pakistan, but the tactic has inspired a host of other groups in North Waziristan to start their own programmes to recruit children.
During the offensive to retake the Swat valley from Taliban militants in 2009, the Pakistani military claimed to have stumbled on a training camp for child suicide bombers and recovered some 200 children prepared to carry out suicide missions. The children told local authorities that before the raid there were 1,200 other children in the camp, many either bought at prices ranging from US$700 to $1,400, or taken forcibly from their parents to be trained as suicide bombers.
Children as young as 12 have appeared in propaganda videos released by the Taliban, beheading prisoners.
In 2011, the Sarhad Hospital for Psychiatric Diseases, one of the largest in the region, treated almost 90,000 patients from FATA, of whom around 50,000 were suffering from disorders caused by the conflict.
“Unfortunately, children are overlooked,” Hussain told IRIN. “[Just the] number of women facing psychological problems is almost four times higher than it was prior to the conflict in FATA.” Less than one percent of the beds in Pakistan are reserved for children and adolescents with mental health problems.
“What I have seen is that there are much deeper and stronger impacts of war on children… Thousands of children [have] lost their childhood,” said Hussain, who has been treating psychiatric patients for nearly three decades. “Stubbornness, tendencies towards violence, rejection of education, [and] an inclination towards drugs and crime are very common among these children of war.”
He points out that “The age from five to fourteen is very sensitive for human development, and unfortunately, much of the population left in conflict-stricken areas is comprised of this age group.”
There are only a handful of government hospitals offering psychiatric treatment to FATA residents, so most patients turn to overcrowded private clinics and commercial hospitals, almost all of which are located in Peshawar, an expensive, four-hour drive from North Waziristan. “The children's situation is even more pathetic, since nobody notices their issues and children cannot explain it [themselves],” said Hussain.
One of the few places children do receive treatment is at relief camps like the Jalozai Camp just outside Peshawar, where more than 12,000 children live, but they are a fraction of those fleeing the war. Millions of FATA residents have been displaced, but the authorities believe less than 20 percent have spent time in relief camps.
“What little resources are available are spent on camps, and that… [covers] only a fraction of the population,” Ali Askar, a professor at the University of Peshawar who is researching the impact of conflict on children, told IRIN.
“The situation is so chaotic that nobody cares about these children and the future of this region,” he said. “If proper attention is not given to these children, they will definitely go on to a life of crime, if they don't become lethal assets for terror networks.”
No fun and games
After 11 September 2001, Al-Qaeda set up special camps in North Waziristan to train children, a task that was overseen for years by the group's top leadership. A special group of child fighters, called Jaish ul Tifal, was set up. The original camps are closed now, and most of the Arab instructors have fled Pakistan, but the tactic has inspired a host of other groups in North Waziristan to start their own programmes to recruit children.
During the offensive to retake the Swat valley from Taliban militants in 2009, the Pakistani military claimed to have stumbled on a training camp for child suicide bombers and recovered some 200 children prepared to carry out suicide missions. The children told local authorities that before the raid there were 1,200 other children in the camp, many either bought at prices ranging from US$700 to $1,400, or taken forcibly from their parents to be trained as suicide bombers.
Children as young as 12 have appeared in propaganda videos released by the Taliban, beheading prisoners.
Nigeria: 40,000 Reasons Why Sri Lanka Is No Model for Nigeria
Source: Human Rights Watch
Dispatches: 40,000 Reasons Why Sri Lanka Is No Model for Nigeria
Andrew Stroehlein
To crush Boko Haram insurgents, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters last week declared it would employ the “Sri Lankan method.”
It’s hard to imagine a worse idea.
Boko Haram’s brutal campaign in northern Nigeria demands urgent action to protect the civilian population. The militant Islamist group’s atrocities have killed thousands and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, sparking a humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s northeast and across national borders. Boko Haram’s April kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls has dramatically increased international attention on the problem and pressure on the government to resolve it.
But, before opting for “the Sri-Lankan method” to deal with an insurgency, Nigeria would do well to examine what that actually means.
Sri Lanka's war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), particularly in its final stages in 2009, caused tremendous and unnecessary human suffering. As the noose tightened around the insurgents – who were, like Boko Haram, responsible for numerous horrific abuses – nearly 300,000 civilians held as human shields by the LTTE became increasingly squeezed into a tiny area with little food or medicine. The military repeatedly and indiscriminately shelled the area, including a government-declared "no-fire zone" and hospitals trying to care for the sick and wounded.
In the last months of the conflict, as many as 40,000 civilians died, according to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts report. And since the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009, serious abuses against ethnic Tamils by the military, including systematic rape of suspected LTTE supporters, have continued to the present.
Those responsible for the numerous wartime abuses on both sides have yet to be investigated, let alone brought to justice. For years, Sri Lanka tried to block an international inquiry into alleged war crimes, but in March 2014 the UN Human Rights Council endorsed an investigation into Sri Lanka’s wartime atrocities.
Is this really the model Nigeria wants to follow?
Nigeria’s security forces have already committed many serious abuses in their fight against Boko Haram including offenses that might constitute crimes against humanity. The security forces’ heavy-handed approach has included burning homes, physical abuse, indiscriminate mass arrests, detentions without trial and extrajudicial killings of thousands of men and boys from the northeast.
Replicating Sri Lanka’s lawless approach to counterinsurgency would further endanger a civilian population already brutalized both by Boko Haram and the military. Nigeria’s government needs to work with the population at risk and not treat them – as Sri Lanka’s government did – as the enemy.
Dispatches: 40,000 Reasons Why Sri Lanka Is No Model for Nigeria
Andrew Stroehlein
To crush Boko Haram insurgents, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters last week declared it would employ the “Sri Lankan method.”
It’s hard to imagine a worse idea.
Boko Haram’s brutal campaign in northern Nigeria demands urgent action to protect the civilian population. The militant Islamist group’s atrocities have killed thousands and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, sparking a humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s northeast and across national borders. Boko Haram’s April kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls has dramatically increased international attention on the problem and pressure on the government to resolve it.
But, before opting for “the Sri-Lankan method” to deal with an insurgency, Nigeria would do well to examine what that actually means.
Sri Lanka's war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), particularly in its final stages in 2009, caused tremendous and unnecessary human suffering. As the noose tightened around the insurgents – who were, like Boko Haram, responsible for numerous horrific abuses – nearly 300,000 civilians held as human shields by the LTTE became increasingly squeezed into a tiny area with little food or medicine. The military repeatedly and indiscriminately shelled the area, including a government-declared "no-fire zone" and hospitals trying to care for the sick and wounded.
In the last months of the conflict, as many as 40,000 civilians died, according to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts report. And since the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009, serious abuses against ethnic Tamils by the military, including systematic rape of suspected LTTE supporters, have continued to the present.
Those responsible for the numerous wartime abuses on both sides have yet to be investigated, let alone brought to justice. For years, Sri Lanka tried to block an international inquiry into alleged war crimes, but in March 2014 the UN Human Rights Council endorsed an investigation into Sri Lanka’s wartime atrocities.
Is this really the model Nigeria wants to follow?
Nigeria’s security forces have already committed many serious abuses in their fight against Boko Haram including offenses that might constitute crimes against humanity. The security forces’ heavy-handed approach has included burning homes, physical abuse, indiscriminate mass arrests, detentions without trial and extrajudicial killings of thousands of men and boys from the northeast.
Replicating Sri Lanka’s lawless approach to counterinsurgency would further endanger a civilian population already brutalized both by Boko Haram and the military. Nigeria’s government needs to work with the population at risk and not treat them – as Sri Lanka’s government did – as the enemy.
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