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Recent Appearances... Rantburg

International-UN-NGOs
Calls grow for proof behind Israel’s claims on Gaza aid diversion
2025-05-28
They are utterly vile subhumans.
[GEO.TV] Hardin Lang, a bigwig at Refugees International, has called on Israel to present clear evidence to support its claim that Hamas
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
 is diverting humanitarian aid in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
, Al Jazeera reported.

The accusation has been used as the justification for shifting food distribution to the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — a move Lang says is politically motivated rather than rooted in need.

''This doesn't seem designed to actually meet the needs of the population,'' Lang said, pointing to the plan's emphasis on relocating aid efforts to southern Gaza, an area labelled by Israel as a "humanitarian zone."

According to Lang, this approach risks sidelining the urgent humanitarian crisis unfolding across the strip.

''If Hamas is indeed stealing aid, then we need to see the evidence,'' he said. Lang argues that rather than restricting aid access, flooding Gaza with relief would be more effective. ''More aid means lower black-market prices and removes the incentive for control,'' he added.
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
US deems Israel not in violation of law on Gaza aid, despite only partially meeting demands
2024-11-13
Soon they won’t have the power for such games, nor permission to play them, but in the meantime they’re milking it for all they’re worth.
[IsraelTimes] US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel appears to confirm a report that Joe Biden’s administration will not, for now, withhold weapons shipments to Israel, amid today’s deadline it put in place for Jerusalem to take a series of steps to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Patel acknowledges during a press briefing that Israel addressed some, but not all, of the measures demanded by the US in the letter, which gave Jerusalem 30 days to improve the humanitarian crisis or risk being deemed out of compliance with US law that bars offensive weapons from being transferred to countries that block aid from reaching civilians.

Nonetheless, he states that the US has not, at this time, “made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of US law.”

Patel points to steps taken by Israel over the past 30 days, including the reopening of the Erez Crossing into northern Gaza, the opening of the Kissufim Crossing into central Gaza, the waiving of certain customs requirements for aid organizations, the opening of new aid delivery routes within Gaza, the resumption of aid delivery to northern Gaza after a near-monthlong siege, the inland expansion of the coastal Mawasi humanitarian zone, and the institution of periodic humanitarian pauses.

The State Department spokesperson stresses that the US will continue monitoring Israel’s compliance with US law and will act accordingly if it deems that Jerusalem has failed to do so.

The US said it wanted to see 350 trucks enter Gaza every day. The average number of aid trucks that entered Gaza in October was 37, and Patel admits that only 404 trucks crossed into Gaza between November 1 and November 9.
More from the Times of Israel here, reporting how the Biden-Harris administration only didn’t go through with it because Donald Trump won, and listing the complaining charities:
The report was co-signed by Anera, Care, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children.
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Home Front: WoT
US quietly approved over 100 arms sales to Israel since October 7
2024-03-08
[IsraelTimes] The United States has approved and delivered on more than 100 arms sales to Israel since October 7, US officials recently told Congress in a classified briefing, according to a Washington Post report citing unnamed officials.

According to the report, the sales included thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs and other weapons. They did not need to first be approved by Congress as the cost of each sale fell below the minimum amount that would require them to be considered, according to the report.

Speaking to the Washington Post, former Biden administration official Jeremy Konyndyk said that the "extraordinary number of sales over the course of a pretty short amount of time" suggests that Israel would not be able to maintain its operation against Hamas
...a regional Iranian catspaw,...
 in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
 "without this level of US support." Konyndyk is the current president of Refugees International and has called on the US to use weapons sales to pressure Israel to cease fire in Gaza.

State Department front man Matt Miller tells the Washington Post that the Biden administration has "followed the procedures Congress itself has specified to keep members well-informed and regularly briefs members even when formal notification is not a legal requirement."

US officials have "engaged Congress" on arms deliveries to Israel "more than 200 times" since October, Miller says.

The report says a senior State Department official declined to provide the total number of all US weapons transferred to Israel, or their costs, since October 7, but says they include new sales and "active" Foreign Military Sales or FMSs

"These are items that are typical for any modern military, including one that is as sophisticated as Israel’s," the official says.

Biden reportedly mulling moves to keep Israel from using American weapons in Rafah

[IsraelTimes] The US is apparently considering taking steps to prevent Israel from using American arms on a planned offensive in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, the Washington Post says.
Trial balloon planted with a friendly editorialist by someone in the administration, since we know poor President Biden isn’t capable of mulling anymore.
Columnist David Ignatius writes that US President Joe Biden and other officials “haven’t made any decision about imposing “conditionality” on U.S. weapons. But the very fact that officials seem to be debating this extreme step shows the administration’s growing concern about the crisis in Gaza.”

“If Israel launches an offensive in Rafah without adequately protecting the displaced civilian population, it may precipitate an unprecedented crisis in U.S.-Israel relations, even involving arms supplies,” former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk is quoted saying.

The column also says that the US appears to have backed off hopes for a diplomatic initiative pairing Saudi normalization with a pathway to a Palestinian state.

Ignatius, sometimes seen as a cipher for administration thinking, telegraphs deep White House frustrations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Behind the growing tension with Netanyahu is Biden’s feeling that Israel hasn’t been listening to U.S. warnings and advice, and that the U.S.-Israeli relationship has been a one-way street,” he writes. “The administration feels it supports Israeli interests, at considerable political cost at home and abroad, while Netanyahu isn’t responsive to American requests. Israel argues that any space between U.S. and Israeli policy only benefits Hamas. But Israel doesn’t make compromises to narrow that gap.”

White House said to ask for list of upcoming arms sales to Israel

[IsraelTimes] The White House is seeking information about upcoming arms transfers to Israel, Axios reports, but US officials cited by the news outlet insist the move is unconnected to recent murmurs suggesting the administration could rethink weapons sales to Israel.

The report, quoting four US officials, says US President Joe Biden requested that the State Department and Pentagon provide lists of arms set to be shipped to Israel or up for approval.

However, officials describe the move as routine and deny it signals any intention to cut or slow down military. One official says the request was made so the White House can check the transfers against a list provided by Jerusalem of weapons being prioritized by Israel.

“The source added the White House wanted the list in order to help the State Department in prioritizing specific arms transfers and to see if there are any issues that demand White House ‘deconfliction.'”

Nonetheless, the timing of the request, the first such ask since October 7 according to Axios, raises eyebrows. Earlier Thursday, The Washington Post reported that US officials had informed Congress that over 100 arms shipments were sent to Israel in five months of war, and another report in the paper suggested that the administration was mulling slapping restrictions on military aid to ensure its weapons are not used in an Israeli offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Axios also reports that Israel’s cabinet will in the coming days discuss signed assurances sought by Washington regarding the use of arms sold by the US, which could imperil weapons transfers if not provided by March 25.
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Africa Subsaharan
Burkina Faso's displaced numbers swell amid Jihadi violence
2022-05-09
[AlAhram] Ami Sana hangs a tattered tarp for a bit of shade where she can rest on a break from pounding stones under the scorching sun.

"The work is hard. It makes my body weak, but what else can I do?'' she asked.

The mother of six is one of 2 million people displaced by Burkina Faso
...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other...
's rapidly rising Islamic holy warrior violence, according to the UN.

Amid the clamor of clanging pickaxes and falling rocks, Sana has found work in the Pissy granite mine on the outskirts of Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou.

Lifting heavy rocks and hammering them into gravel to sell to construction companies is tough work that doesn't earn her enough to adequately feed or educate her children, Sana said. But it's the best work that she could find.

The rush of civilians from rural villages plagued by holy warrior violence has put pressure on Burkina Faso's cities.

"Some of the host cities have doubled or tripled in size in the past three years, and their infrastructures are often stretched to a breaking point,'' said Hassane Hamadou, country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council.

"Schools can't absorb all the new children, water points can't provide enough for all. Hundreds of thousands are left without access to an education, clean water or healthcare as a result,'' he said.

The influx of displaced people is causing competition among the approximately 3,000 people working at the granite mine. At least 500 displaced people started working at the mine last year making it harder for the original miners to earn a living, said Abiba Tiemtore, head of the site.

"With more people, it's hard to collect as many rocks and it's impacting our daily income,'' she said. Miners who used to make approximately $1 a day say they are now lucky if they make 80 cents.

When it seized power in January, Burkina Faso's ruling junta vowed to stamp out holy warrior violence but it has done little about the swelling numbers of displaced.

The government has a responsibility to provide the swelling numbers of displaced with those social services, said Alexandra Lamarche, senior advocate for West and Central Africa for Refugees International.

The minister of humanitarian affairs did not respond to a request for comment on the situation.

So far the junta has not succeeded in stemming the holy warrior violence. In January, 160,000 people were newly displaced, the second-largest monthly increase in three years, according to a report by international aid groups. Hard-hit areas like the Center North region, which hosts Burkina Faso's largest displaced population, are buckling under the pressure.

"The impact of people moving from their farms into big cities is disorientation (and) the increase of poverty (and) fear,'' said Abdoulaye Pafadnam, former mayor of Barsalogho, one of the main towns in the Center North region.

The violence is cutting off access for aid groups to reach people in need. Roads that were safe to travel six months ago are lined with explosives and the United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
 had only one helicopter until recently to transport people and aid across the country.

The pressure on cities has also started creating rifts between some host and displaced communities. In the northern town of Ouahigouya, people sheltering in a crowded displacement camp said locals chase them from the forest if they try to chop wood for cooking, accusing them of trying to destroy it.

With no end to the jihadi violence in sight, the numbers of Burkina Faso's displaced are expected to continue flooding urban centers where they'll be hunting for jobs.

"I worry that I have no means to take care of my children,'' said Fati Ouedraogo, a displaced mother of 10 in Ouahigouya. "When the children are crying I don't know what to
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Fighting kills 26 in Syria’s northwest
2019-05-07
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Clashes between Syrian regime forces and turbans Monday killed more than 26 fighters in the country’s northwest, which has seen an escalation in shelling and air strikes, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Eleven pro-government fighters were among those killed in fierce fighting in the northern countryside of Hama province, the war monitor said.

Fifteen bully boys, including members of al-Qaeda’s former Syrian branch, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
 (HTS), and its ally the Turkistan Islamic Party, were also killed, the monitor said.

The fighting came as regime forces advanced on two villages and a strategic hilltop in the region, it said.

State news agency SANA said Syrian troops launched "intensive operations," targeting supply lines and areas where gangs operate in northern Hama and neighboring Idlib.

The region held by HTS has faced intensifying bombardment in the past month, prompting a new wave of displacement.

On Monday, four non-combatants were killed in shelling and air strikes on Idlib and neighboring areas by the Syrian government and its ally Russia said the Observatory. An AFP photographer in Idlib saw several houses completely destroyed by recent attacks.

One man who lost his wife, his daughter-in-law, and his two grandchildren during shelling overnight prepared a pickup truck to relocate surviving members of his family. "I don’t know where I’m going," he told AFP.

More than 140,000 civilians have been forced to flee attacks since February, Refugees International said on Monday.

"It is difficult to overstate the urgency of this looming humanitarian disaster if nothing is done to protect these people," the non-governmental organization said in a statement.

Escalated attacks have hit schools and medical facilities, according to the UN.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
PUK urges US to stay in Rojava, headquarters in war on terror
2018-12-23
[Rudaw] The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) urged the US to reconsider its decision to withdraw from Syria.

The defeat of ISIS "is an integrated process based on drying up the intellectual resources and addressing the social and cultural factors that help the emergence and spread of the terror epidemic that threatens the entire world," said Saadi Pira, PUK spokesperson, in comments published by the party’s media.

Pulling out of northern Syria, a region that has become a headquarters in the fight against extremism in Syria, "undermines the balance of power" in the country and the region, ultimately weakening global counter-terror efforts and puts at risk efforts to find a political solution to the Syria conflict, he argued.

The result will be "new wars... and bloody conflicts," and puts the Kurds in Syria at "imminent risk," he said.

America’s allies have widely criticized President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
’s shock decision to declare ISIS "defeated in Syria" and bring US troops home.

Defense officials are considering an option that would allow small numbers of US special forces to be based in Iraq and “surge” across the border on raids, the New York Times reported, citing anonymous military officials. This would allow the US to continue its support of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and would keep up the pressure on ISIS.
By all reports, the Pentagon was not involved in the decision. Trump’s Secretary of State James Mattis resigned over the matter.

Defense officials are considering an option that would allow small numbers of US special forces to be based in Iraq and "surge" across the border on raids, the New York Times

...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
 reported, citing anonymous military officials. This would allow the US to continue its support of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and would keep up the pressure on ISIS.

La Belle France and Britannia, who both have troops on the ground in northern Syria, have said they will not follow Trump’s lead and order a withdrawal.

Aid agencies have warned that the US withdrawal could result in a new humanitarian crisis.

Pulling out some 2,000 US troops and American air power "will create a power vacuum that will likely lead to a new round of conflict," said Hardin Lang, vice president of Refugees International.

"Renewed fighting will disrupt communities, displace additional populations, and could trigger another humanitarian crisis," he said.

Civilian populations in northern Syria have few options of where to go if they have to flee. The border to The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...Qatar's colony in Asia Minor....
 is closed off to the north and west. Areas to the south are controlled by the regime, include expanses of desert, and end with the closed border to Jordan. The only option may be to go east, to the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

Middle East analyst Daniel Benaim advised the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to develop a humanitarian contingency plan in case of a resurgent ISIS in Syria or a Ottoman Turkish attack on the Kurds.
Link


-Short Attention Span Theater-
VIDEO: Pelosi breakdown? Garbles words, mispronounces countries in short speech
2017-04-27
Nancy Pelosi's mission on Tuesday was to give a brief speech and not renew questions about her health.
Or her blood sugar level.
She couldn't do it.
Congestive heart failure and AFib? Just a suggestion.
During Pelosi's brief 7-minute speech to Refugees International, the House Democratic Leader garbled names, other words and even mispronounced countries.

She congratulated honorees for their well-deserved "resc -- recognition."

Pelosi complimented Refugees International's "strong moral varce -- voice."

She said America "degrades our values and our security when we slam the door in the face of children freeing -- fleeing atrocities."

She botched country names as she read them from her notes.

"With the specter of famine looming in, over northeast Nigeria, Somalia, south "Sudon," and "Yuma -- Yamen," she said, flubbing "Yemen."

Pelosi asserted cutting the foreign aid budget would "only deepen the crisis fighting -- facing the children."

"Children, America, children need America to be their champion," she said moments later.

Pelosi thanked Refugees International for "channeling -- challenging us to honor our values."

Just over 7 minutes after she started, Pelosi thanked the group for the invitation, stood and stared awkwardly, then made her way off the stage.
Horse. Pasture. Some assembly required.
I've heard that Botox is known to migrate from the injection site. Perhaps some got to her mouth...
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Africa Subsaharan
Peacekeeper killed in DR Congo assault
2010-04-05
Dozens of unidentified fighters have attacked a provincial capital in northern Democratic Republic of Congo in a battle that has so far left one UN peacekeeper dead, UN officials say.

At least 30 fighters believed to be part of a mushrooming ethnic conflict in the region crossed the Congo River by boat to Mbandaka, capital of Congo's northern Equateur province, attacking the governor's residence. They then took control of the city's airport in a surprise assault on Congolese and UN forces, a UN official said.

"There is heavy fighting going on right now, especially around the airport," Madnodje Mounoubai, spokesman for the UN mission MONUC, said by telephone. "There is one [peacekeeper] dead - Ghanaian."

The Mbandaka assault is thought to be separate from an ongoing conflict between UN-backed forces and rebels in Congo's east and marks an escalation in the northern region, where violence erupted last year between ethnic groups over fishing access.

"We think [the fighters] are the Enyele, a group that started fighting six months ago claiming fishing rights, but now they are far from their land and we don't know what they want," Mr Mounoubai said.

More than 200,000 Congolese have fled their homes in Equateur in the past six months due to the violence between the Lobala and Boba tribesmen, said aid agency Refugees International. The Enyele are a sub-tribe of the Lobala.

In Sunday's fighting, more than 100 troops from Congo's national army chased the rebels, who UN sources said numbered at least 30, out of town towards the airport where MONUC has aircraft stationed. UN peacekeepers stationed at the airport along with UN contractors at a fire station beside it - both 7 kilometres from the riverside governor's residence - retreated into the surrounding bush.

Neither UN nor army sources could confirm if there were any civilians killed in the fighting, but sources in the area said hundreds were sheltering in churches after Easter Sunday services.
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International-UN-NGOs
UN troops face child abuse claims
2006-12-01
Children have been subjected to rape and prostitution by United Nations peacekeepers in Haiti and Liberia, a BBC investigation has found. Girls have told of regular encounters with soldiers where sex is demanded in return for food or money.

A senior official with the organisation has accepted the claims are credible.
He's not going to do anything about it, mind you, but it's 'credible'.
The UN has faced several scandals involving its troops in recent years, including a DR Congo paedophile ring and prostitute trafficking in Kosovo.

The assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations acknowledges that sexual abuse is widespread. "We've had a problem probably since the inception of peacekeeping - problems of this kind of exploitation of vulnerable populations," Jane Holl Lute told the BBC. "My operating presumption is that this is either a problem or a potential problem in every single one of our missions."
And you won't do anything about it because ...
The UN is scheduled to hold a special conference in New York on Monday 4 December, to address the issue.
Oh. Sorry. My bad. A conference. No -- a 'special' conference. Whew.
In Haiti, the BBC's Mike Williams spoke to a street girl as young as 11 who had reported sexual abuse by peacekeepers outside the gates of the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince. A 14-year-old described her abduction and rape inside a UN naval base in the country two years ago. Despite detailed medical and circumstantial evidence, the allegation was dismissed by the UN for lack of evidence - and the alleged attacker returned to his home country.
A lack of evidence other than a victim and medical proof.
In May this year, another BBC investigation discovered systematic abuse in Liberia, involving food being given out to teenage refugees in return for sex.

The UN responded by heightening policing measures, appointing 500 monitors across the country, and introducing mandatory training of all personnel on appropriate conduct. A local NGO worker said reports of sexual abuse involving peacekeepers were "still rampant, despite pronouncements that they have been curbed".

UN chief Kofi Annan has pledged a policy of "zero tolerance".
Which is worth what every pledge from Kofi is worth.
The UN's own figures show 316 peacekeeping personnel in all missions have been investigated, resulting in the summary dismissal of 18 civilians, repatriation of 17 members of Formed Police Units and 144 repatriations or rotations home on disciplinary grounds.
After which .. nothing happens to them.
However allegations remain that measures to police and curb misconduct are nowhere near as strong as they should be. Refugees International says there remains a "culture of silence" in some military deployments, and fear of punishment is not enough to ensure compliance with UN rules.

"They may be military men but they are also humanitarian workers," Sarah Martin told the BBC. "To prey upon the very populations that you are sent to protect is one of the worst forms of violation and betrayal that there is."

Under UN regulations, military personnel cannot be prosecuted in the country where they are serving, and it is up to the courts in their home countries to prosecute crimes committed. The UN said it had firm knowledge of only two concrete examples of sex offenders being sent to jail, although it believed there could be others it did not know about.
Not that it bothers to keep track, you understand.
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Down Under
Asylum-seekers will be sent offshore
2006-04-12
ASYLUM-SEEKERS who land on the Australian mainland will face deportation to offshore processing centres under tough new rules to be announced by the Howard Government today.

Expanding its controversial regulations that allow islands to be excised from Australia's migration zone, John Howard has decided that even those asylum-seekers who make it undetected to the mainland will be denied generous review process under Australian law.
The new rules, signed off by cabinet's National Security Committee yesterday, mean that any claim for asylum will be processed as if the applicant were in an overseas UN refugee camp, joining the worldwide queue.

The move is designed to stem the flow of asylum-seekers from Papua and mend relations with Jakarta.

Under current arrangements - brought in during the 2001 wave of Middle Eastern and south Asian asylum-seekers - if an asylum-seeker reaches an island it is not regarded as Australian territory for the purposes of migration law.

Future asylum-seekers could be sent to Australia's Christmas Island or the Australian-funded centre on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island for processing.

Until now if an asylum-seeker reached the mainland - as the 43 Papuans who arrived in January did - the law deemed them to be in Australia and the Government had to hear their claim according to Australian rules.
Last month, using these rules, the Department of Immigration issued temporary protection visas to 42 of the Papuans, sparking a diplomatic crisis between Australia and Indonesia.

Cabinet is believed to have gone for the idea because it is simple, will work effectively in the Papuan case and does not contravene Australia's international treaty obligations.

The change is likely to placate Indonesian concerns that Australia is treating Papuans more sympathetically than asylum-seekers from other nations.

Last month's decision to grant temporary protection visas to the Papuans sparked a diplomatic row with Jakarta, with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono calling the move "inappropriate and unrealistic".

He said last week relations with Canberra were entering a "difficult phase" and called for serious discussions on the future of the bilateral relationship.

The Howard Government has already tightened maritime surveillance of Australia's northern waters,. involving defence and customs aircraft and ships with a sharper focus on the Torres Strait.

Jennifer Pagonis, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva said last night that any changes by Canberra to its asylum-seeker processes should accord with international treaty obligations.

"The bottom line for us is that they uphold their international obligations," Ms Pagonis said. "We have to see what the review is going to entail and then we'll have a look at it."

Ms Pagonis said UNHCR representatives in Canberra would continue talking to the Government on refugee policy

In Washington, human rights advocacy group Refugees International warned that Australia's asylum-seeker review was threatening to violate the intent of the UN Refugee Convention and all the basic tenets of international refugee law.

"You just can't go around consulting countries of origin about whether asylum-seekers should be granted refugee status," said the group's Joel Charny. "Countries like Australia need to stand for the rule of law. If Australia and others are not willing to stand for the rule of law, even in the context of the war on terror, then we're all in big trouble."

Mr Charny predicted the Indonesian position on future Papuan asylum-seekers would be the same as it was in East Timor and the Indonesian province of Aceh.

"They would argue the situation in West Papua is calm and they are governing the province appropriately," he said.

"They would say there is nothing going on and if there is something going on, they're fighting terrorism."

Mr Charny said Australia's security interest in ensuring Jakarta remained committed to rooting out Indonesian-based terrorists could not justify the concessions being contemplated.

"I know the Australian-Indonesian relationship has been tension-filled over time, but we're at a low point if we have to violate international refugee law to maintain a common stance on the war on terror," he said.

"This is a pattern we are seeing. The war of terror in the US is being used to justify all kinds of things. The Attorney-General has even said we don't have to pay attention to the Geneva Convention in the context of the war on terror."

Howard Akbar
Link


International-UN-NGOs
UN not moving to end sex abuse by peacekeepers
2005-10-19
The United Nations has developed procedures to curb sexual abuse by peacekeepers, but the measures are not being put into force because of a deep-seated culture of tolerating sexual exploitation, an independent review reported Tuesday.

"A 'boys will be boys' attitude in peacekeeping missions breeds tolerance for exploiting and abusing local women," said the report, by Refugees International, a Washington-based advocacy group. "This attitude is slowly changing, but the U.N. must go beyond strong rhetoric and ensure that the resources needed to change this culture are available."

The 32-page document provided an update on an attention-getting report in March by Prince Zeid Raad al-Hussein, Jordan's ambassador to the United Nations. His report was prompted by evidence that peacekeepers and civilian staff members had had sex with women and girls in Congo in exchange for food and money, and in some cases had committed rape.

Prince Zeid, a former military officer and civilian peacekeeper in Bosnia, said in a briefing on Tuesday that even though his report had addressed a situation that undermined the credibility of the United Nations, influential member states greeted it with "utter silence."

"The entire responsibility for this mess is with the member states," he said, adding that meetings he had scheduled after his report was published were only sparsely attended.

Sarah Martin, the author of the new report, said she had visited peacekeeping missions in Haiti and Liberia and had found that a "wall of silence" kept sexual abuse cases from being investigated. Rapes were often belittled as simple acts of prostitution. "They'd say, 'Why should we ruin someone's otherwise illustrious career over an act with a prostitute,' " she said in the briefing.

She said Liberians had complained to her about some peacekeepers' conduct with the comment, "This behavior would not be accepted in the home country of these soldiers; why are these soldiers playing around with our children?"

Ms. Martin said guidelines adopted at headquarters were not being taken seriously in the field, adding: "Until there is a better understanding of the zero-contact rule, peacekeepers will continue to think of it as a rule that makes no sense. Fear of punishment is not enough to ensure compliance."

Among the changes called for were empowering local women, conducting public information campaigns to combat the "masculine culture that has developed," giving more importance to the so-called gender advisers who are now required on missions, giving victims access to the United Nations complaint system and guaranteeing that complainants are protected.

As of September, only 10 of the 17 peacekeeping missions had a fulltime gender advisory position, the report said. According to United Nations figures, the 17 missions involve 80,000 people.

Anna Shotton of the United Nations peacekeeping department said that while "tremendous progress has been made over the past year to drive home the U.N.'s message of zero tolerance and zero impunity," the message had still not taken hold.

She said that over the past 20 months, investigations had been completed on 221 accused peacekeepers, resulting in the firing of 10 civilian employees and the repatriation of 88 military men, including 6 commanders.

Asked how that compared with previous periods, she said, "You had the occasional repatriation of uniformed personnel, but it was very rare."
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Caribbean-Latin America
News Briefs From the Caribbean
2005-03-16
TRINIDAD: Judge orders retrial for Muslim leader
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - A judge ordered a retrial Wednesday after jurors delivered a split verdict in the murder conspiracy trial of a Muslim leader who led a failed coup in 1990. Jurors said they were divided 6-3 on whether to convict Yasin Abu Bakr of conspiring to murder Salim Rasheed and Zaki Abuaiah after he expelled them from his group in a dispute over leadership. The jurors, who deliberated for about two hours, did not immediately reveal what their votes had been. Justice Mark Mohamed ordered a retrial, saying at least seven jurors needed to agree for the verdict to stand.
Dozens of relatives and supporters of Abu Bakr erupted into cheers outside the Hall of Justice in the capital of Port-of-Spain after they learned of the decision. Abu Bakr, 63, was allowed to remain free on extended bail. No new trial date was set. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Rasheed and Abuaiah told the court in January how they had become disillusioned with Abu Bakr's group before being expelled.

HAITI: Canadian foreign minister visits for talks on U.N. efforts
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Canada's foreign minister arrived in Haiti on Wednesday for talks on U.N. peacekeeping efforts, two days before international donors meet to speed the flow of aid following the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Pierre Pettrigrew is to meet with interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and members of the U.N. force on his two-day visit to Haiti. They will discuss stabilization efforts, including a stalled plan to disarm rival factions blamed for hundreds of killings, Pettigrew's office said.
The U.S.-backed interim government has blamed most of the violence on pro-Aristide street gangs. But armed ex-soldiers who helped overthrow Aristide in a February 2004 revolt still hold sway over much of the countryside and are accused of human rights violations, including the killing of four Haitian policemen.
The Washington-based human rights group Refugees International warned Tuesday that Haitian police were unable to secure the capital and urged the U.N. civilian police to take command of law enforcement.

CUBA: Sugar minister: 'violent' fall in sugar yield expected this year
HAVANA (AP) - A "violent" drop is expected in the yield from the current sugar harvest because of ongoing drought in the island's east, Sugar Minister Gen. Ulises Rosales del Toro said in comments carried Wednesday by state media.
"In the last 50 years, the sugar industry has suffered three large and expensive droughts, but none like this for its prolongation and economic damage," Rosales del Toro was quoted as saying in the Communist Party daily Granma.
The minister gave no numbers, but President Fidel Castro said last week that the 2004-2005 harvest could yield as little as 1.5 million to 1.7 million metric tons. Cuba's 2003-2004 harvest was 2.5 million metric tons. That was down from the 2002-2003 harvest of 3.6 million metric tons.
No sweets for you, Fidel

Rosales del Toro said officials hoped for a better harvest this year, but "the adverse climatic situation not only impeded growth, but caused a violent drop" in expected yield.
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