WORLD

Director-General calls for investigation into murder of journalist Gabriel Soriano in Mexico

Gabriel Soriano is one of the Eleventh journalist killed in Mexico this year.

photo: anonymous 

(BMLTV) November 24, 2018 - The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has condemned the killing of journalist Gabriel Soriano in the Mexican state of Acapulco calling for an end to impunity for crimes against the media.

“I condemn the murder of Gabriel Soriano,” said the Director-General. “Gabriel Soriano’s death is yet another tragic illustration of the dire conditions journalists endure in Mexico. In order to improve the safety of journalists and media workers in the country, I join the public call for an end to impunity for crimes against reporters and their colleagues.”

Soriano, a radio producer and presenter for public broadcaster, Radio y Televisión de Guerrero (RTG), was shot on 24 October while driving a company van clearly marked with the RTG logo.

UNESCO promotes the safety of journalists through global awareness-raising, capacity building and a range of actions, notably the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity

Munich wants to build an Autobahn for bikes 


Germans could soon learn the joys of cruising on two wheels.

by adele peters

(FAST COMPANY) August 8, 2015 - Germany might still be a car-obsessed country, but it's starting to build an Autobahn for bikes. One new network of bike highways may soon show up in Munich, a city with heavy commuter traffic that's now trying to convince fewer people to drive.
If the plan goes forward, two-lane bike highways would sprawl out from Munich in every direction—over about 400 square miles—providing a direct connection from the suburbs to the city with no interruption from cars. With no crossroads or traffic lights, commuters could ride without stopping.

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An international call for ailing journalist Gao Yu's release from prison

by bob dietz/CPJ

(CPJ) August 5, 2915 -  With the health of jailed journalists Gao Yu fading quickly (see 'I don't want to die here': Gao Yu's health deteriorates in Beijing prison), 15 media support and human rights groups sent a letter today to Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials calling for the 71-year-old reporter's unconditional release. Gao suffers from heart disease, high blood pressure, and Meniere's disease, which can cause severe dizziness, according to her lawyers. As today's joint letter points out, according to United Nations norms, governments are responsible for maintaining prisoners' health.

About those United Nations norms: Gao was handed a seven-year sentence in April, accused of having passed a confidential Communist Party communique to an international media outlet, an accusation she denies. The treatise, "Document 9," reflects current political thinking with the Party. It says, among other things, that so-called humanitarian values like those enshrined in U.N. documents (to many of which China is a signatory), are not relevant to Chinese society and are an attempt to undermine Communist Party hegemony in China.

Gao's fragile health has been no secret, but as it has deteriorated recently, her lawyers have intentionally publicized the situation to international groups, seeking to bring pressure for her release. Their appeal rests on Gao's, and all prisoners' right to medical treatment. While Gao's lawyers have called for her release on legal grounds, it is also a case of common human decency for her to be set free.

Read the full letter here.

Canada fights wildlife trafficking 

(PRN) OTTAWA, Canada, February 13, 2014 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced an additional contribution in emergency funding to combat wildlife trafficking in Eastern Africa. Baird is attending the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade from February 13 to 14, 2014.

“Illegal wildlife trafficking is known to fund the drug trade, corruption and terrorist activities in Africa,” said Baird. “Canada continues to make a positive contribution to this fight. Today, I am proud to announce an additional $2 million in emergency funding support to combat wildlife trafficking in Eastern Africa, and thereby disrupt these illicit networks involved in poaching and the illegal trade of wildlife.”

In his address to the conference, Baird recommended that the world take urgent and decisive action to deal with the current poaching crisis that threatens the survival of African elephant and rhinoceros populations and has dire consequences for security, governance and the livelihoods of communities.

Tatarstan Airlines: At least 50 people have banished in Boeing 737 crash

(NYCA) November 17, 2013 - NYC Aviation has learned that at approximately 10:30 AM EST, Tatarstan Airlines flight U9-363/2B-363 from Moscow Domodedovo to Kazan Russia crashed after attempting a go-around from its second aborted landing attempt, instead impacting the ground and killing all 44 passengers and six crew aboard.

Russian officials report two additional people on the ground may also have been killed in the crash, which occurred during reportedly high winds and cloudy conditions at the airport. The Aviation Herald observed that “the aircraft had already gone around several times, when a fuel tank caught fire upon landing.”

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Two Radio France Internationale journalist , Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon are abducted and killed by Gunmen in Mali

(NEW YORK TIMES) DAKAR, Senegal – November 2, 2013 - Two French journalists were kidnapped and killed in northern Mali on Saturday, the French foreign ministry said, underscoring the continuing instability of a region retaken from fighters linked to Al Qaeda only eight months ago.

The reporters, Ghislaine Dupont, 51, and Claude Verlon, 58, worked for Radio France Internationale, a French state-supported broadcaster. They had been interviewing a leader with a separatist group in the town of Kidal, a flash point in Mali’s unstable desert north.

Gunmen forced the reporters into a truck as they were leaving the leader’s house in the center of town on Saturday afternoon, said a ranking officer in Mali’s army. Their bodies were found shortly after, with their throats slit, about eight miles outside Kidal in the Sahara, said the officer, Col. Didier Dacko.

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A global binding treaty on mercury has been adopted in Japan

Acting now!

A pound coin (density ~7.6 g/cm3) floats in mercury due to the combination of the buoyant force and surface tension. photo: courtesy image/GOV.

(UNIDO) October 31, 2030 - After four years of intense negotiations, a global binding treaty on mercury has been adopted at the Plenipotentiary Conference which took place in the Japanese cities of Kumamoto and Minamata from 9 to 11 October 2013. 

The treaty, known as Minamata Convention on Mercury, aims to regulate the anthropogenic emissions and releases of the metal and its compounds in order to protect human health and the environment. The convention is now open for signatures and will come into force on the 90th day following ratification by at least 50 countries.

The Convention is named after the Japanese city where mercury releases from a factory contaminated fish that eventually led to one of the most serious mercury poisoning in history. 

As observed in the victims of the Minamata disease in 1956, and the metal and its various compounds have a range of serious health impacts including brain and neurological damages, memory loss, and damage to the digestive system and to the kidney especially among infants, children, and women of child-bearing age.

The discussion regarding the need to address mercury pollution at a global level given its significant adverse impacts on human health and the environment is not new. Since 2001, governments have been debating how to implement an international treaty through the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC/GMEF).

Then, in February 2009, the GC of UNEP agreed on the development of a global, legally binding instrument on mercury through a series of five Intergovernmental Negotiating Committees (INCs) sessions. The meetings culminated in Geneva on 19 January 2013 where governments agreed on the text of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

According to the new treaty, the production, export, and import of a range of mercury containing products will be banned by 2020, including certain batteries and switches, light bulbs, cosmetics, pesticides and medical equipment such as thermometers. The use of mercury to separate gold from the ore-bearing rock in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector is also targeted by the treaty. 

“Globally, the beneficiaries of the treaty are anybody who eats fish and, locally, anybody who is occupationally exposed to mercury, particularly artisanal miners, and within that group particularly women and children living in artisanal mining communities,” says Kevin Telmer, Executive Director of the Artisanal Gold Council (AGC) and partner of UNIDO and UNEP. 

UNIDO has been actively involved in the technical advisory group of the Global Mercury Partnership (created by UNEP in 2008) to the Convention throughout its negotiations.

The partnership is the main mechanism for the delivery of immediate actions on mercury and UNIDO plays an important role as the ASGM sector co-lead with the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), an NGO based in Washington, D.C.  

“Through the partnership, UNIDO has already managed to develop many inclusive projects which are paving the way to solving the mercury pollution problems in areas such as artisanal and small-scale gold mining, non-ferrous metal smelting and mercury-containing wastes,” says Ludovic Bernaudat, a UNIDO expert on mercury.

Currently, ASGM is a major source of mercury release and environmental pollution. Bernaudat says that, according to UNIDO estimates, nearly 100 per cent of the metal used in the sector is released into the environment.

Once emitted or released, mercury persists in the environment where it circulates between air, water, sediments, soil, and living organisms, extending environmental and heath risks well beyond the point of origin. Mercury’s propensity for long range transport through water, its chemical transformation and tendency to bio accumulate make it a threat not only to the health of miners and of ecosystems at the local level, but also to the environmental health of the global community. 

Although UNIDO’s Mercury Programme has traditionally focused on the ASGM sector, more recently the organization has demonstrated its comparative advantage outside of this sector by expanding into other mercury pollution areas such as the chlor-alkali, vinyl chloride polymer (VCM) production, and waste management sectors.

During a intergovernmental preparatory meeting preceding the Conference, from 7 to 8 October, UNIDO hosted a side event to present several industrial issues and solutions related to the problems and the needs of the aforementioned sectors. In addition, invited experts and representatives of the private sector illustrated several examples of practical technical solutions. 

The adoption of the Minamata treaty will be both an opportunity and a challenge for developing countries to fulfill the commitments of the Convention. While most industrialized countries have reduced their use of mercury in recent decades, developing economies have, in contrast, seen a steep rise in its usage.

“Based on its experience and competitive advantage, UNIDO will have an important and increasing role to help countries introduce cleaner technologies and policy reforms in order to minimize the uses and emissions of mercury,” says Bernaudat. “Specifically, the promotion of Best Available Technologies (BATs) and Best Environmental Practices (BEPs) can be achieved through capacity building, technology transfer, and awareness raising.” 

According to Kevin Telmer, all the international organizations need to have some early successes to build momentum to ensure the treaty is effective and results are seen as quickly as possible. “UNEP needs to organize all stakeholders and effectively communicate between them, ensuring that experiences are shared, and coordinate efforts. UNIDO needs to increase the implementation of projects and adopt innovative approaches, something we are already seeing,” says Telmer. 

Since 2008, the UNIDO mercury team has managed to raise over USD 6 million of project funds and leverage more than USD 12 million in co-financing in 11 countries. The GEF has been the major source of support but bilateral support has also been provided by the governments of Finland and France. "Together with our financing partners, we stand ready to continue and expand our assistant to the signatories of the Convention in order to ensure a rapid ratification," says Bernaudat.

G33 talks on subsidies at WTO

Grains seen going to market. photo: jaspreet kindra/IRIN©

(IRIN) JOHANNESBURG, October 21, 2013 - The combined effects of the global economic slowdown and increasing climatic shocks are threatening food security in developing countries, prompting many to re-open World Trade Organization (WTO) discussions on limits to support for farmers.

A group of developing countries - known as G33 - is asking to exceed their agreed domestic support limits when they buy, stock and supply cereals and other food to boost food security among the poor; they want these changes to be exempt from any legal challenge.

Essentially, these countries want the freedom to buy grains at set prices from producers and to use that grain to build stockpiles for distribution. The WTO rules do not prescribe limits on the amount of food that can be bought at market prices for food stocks, and it does not limit the amount of food that can be provided as domestic food aid at subsidized prices. The WTO only disciplines buying cereals at administered prices.

The proposal will be discussed at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December.

Developed countries and some developing countries are concerned that the G33 proposal - which is backed by India, China and Indonesia - could affect food security in neighbouring countries. They fear these measures could lead to surpluses in stocks, which the G33 members might dump in the global market, disrupting global prices.

Ashok Gulati, chairman of India’s Commission for Agriculture Cost and Prices (CACP), reckons India wants more leeway to provide support for its farmers and consumers because the government is launching a massive subsidized food scheme through a public distribution system that will reach two-thirds of its population - nearly 800 million people. He told IRIN that a situation where India would be in a position to dump excess stocks could arise "once in 10 years.” He added, “the larger distortion will be domestic," referring to disruptions to local markets.

A representative from one of the G33 countries at the WTO, who did not want to be named, said not all the members of the group were supportive of the proposal. "India is already the largest exporter of rice in the world... Small exporters will lose their competitiveness because of Indian subsidies... Rice prices are already going down, and with further subsidies it can lead to a price crash,” the representative said.

The delegate estimated that support for rice production in India - both in the form of agricultural inputs and procurement - ran into billions of dollars. Even more support could "ruin" agriculture sustainability and "create food insecurity instead of food security" in the region. 

Gulati has publicly come out against the government’s plan to stockpile staple grains because of the effect it would have on prices in the local markets, according to interviews with the Indian daily the Economic Times and news agency DNA.

He maintains that dispensing subsidized food will not address malnutrition, a significant problem in India, where almost half the population of children are malnourished. Gulati believes this problem can only be addressed by comprehensively tackling the various dimensions of food insecurity, such as by increasing access to clean water and improving the status of women.

But a new paper, produced jointly by the Geneva-based International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), takes a sympathetic view of positions on both sides, and uses the proposal to flag the need to reform global agricultural trade rules. The paper contends there has been minimal reform to agricultural trade rules since the Uruguay Round of multilateral negotiations that led to the formation of the WTO two decades ago.

“The G33 proposal can more broadly be seen as symptomatic of the challenges many countries face in designing policies to achieve food security goals in the new price environment,” the paper notes.

“Although agricultural markets have evolved dramatically since 2007, global trade rules have not,” it adds.

To subsidize or not 

Agricultural subsidies have been a contentious issue for years. The WTO has placed ceilings on how much the US and the European Union (EU) can spend on agricultural subsidies that distort trade, but these are still rather high, food rights groups say.

A drought in the US in 2012 and fluctuating food prices have led policy-makers there and in the EU to rethink protection and support for their farmers, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) pointed out.

The US’s agriculture policy is governed by the Farm Bill, which is updated every four years, but the 2008 legislation was extended to September 2013, when the two parties - the Democrats and the Republicans - were unable to come to an agreement on subsidized food for the country’s poor. The new proposed bill recommends an expanded insurance programme with new crop insurance subsidies, which would see farmers receive money when income from certain crops falls below a targeted level. It also sets higher target prices for crops that trigger payments when revenues fall for several consecutive years. The bill is likely to come up for negotiations in the coming weeks.

The EU has largely done away with export subsidies that support the disposal of surplus production abroad, but the EU Common Agriculture Policy still ensures high levels of direct support to farmers and protects EU markets. The EU has substantially reformed farm support over the years to reduce its impacts on trade and production, but some still question whether the support provided continues to give European producers an advantage over competitors elsewhere.

On the other hand, the economic slowdown and its impact on local currencies have forced developing countries like Zambia to remove subsidies for farmers and millers because the expenditure is perceived as draining the country’s limited resources.

More imbalances?

If richer nations are strengthening support to their farmers while the poorer countries cut back, could global imbalances grow?

Jamie Morrison, a senior economist with FAO and a co-author of the ICTSD/FAO paper, says that, generally, when considering support to farmers in times of disasters, countries should take into account the kind of support they have to fall back on. In rich countries, farmers have access to insurance and other safety nets, which might not be the case in developing countries.

He says rich countries use public funding to “underwrite potential losses [for farmers] which private sector insurance institutions may be less willing to cover. This type of support is considered to be less distortive of markets and trade.”

But developing countries tend to intervene directly in the market to stabilize prices for their producers while providing their consumers “with some level of protection against high food prices”, Morrison said. This generally leads to buying grains at prices above the market value and managing cross-border trade. This support not only drains the country’s coffers but “is considered to be distortive of markets and trade.”

Often these subsidies, whether in the form of cheaper agricultural inputs or higher prices for produce, do not get to the intended poorest farmers, and they are often driven by political opportunism - appeasing the majority of the people in developing countries who depend on agriculture for income and food. 

CACP’s Gulati, who formerly headed IFPRI's Asia office, said, "Subsidies on fertilizer, power and irrigation are not targeted. Subsidies have risen much faster than public investments in agriculture [in India]. The marginal return on subsidies is less than one-fourth of that from investments. Yet subsidies multiply due to higher political returns. So India wants more leverage on subsidies."

Yet Morrison adds that, for many countries, direct support for farmers "may be essential in facilitating agricultural transformation" and the "only practical option available given weaknesses" in other public institutions that could have supported production. "Greater use of a system more reliant on market-based instruments may make a more efficient use of resources, but may be impractical at the current time".

Jonathan Hepburn, agriculture programme manager with ICTSD says, “WTO rules need to take into account the reality that countries are in different situations, and that some have fewer resources at their disposal to achieve public policy objectives. “

Negotiating 

In the recent past, negotiating groups at the WTO have sought preferential treatment. The least developed countries (LDCs), for instance, are negotiating to enjoy some flexibility in their implementation of import tariffs on agricultural products. However, even the LDCs face limits on the amounts and kinds of subsidies they provide - although many lack the resources to provide the amount of farm support that would be capped by WTO rules, points out ICTSD’s Hepburn.

Part of the problem in creating new rules on trade, Hepburn said, has “been striking a balance between the rights and responsibilities of different groups of countries - especially as the global economic landscape has evolved dramatically over the last decade or so.”

In December, according to the WTO, countries might decide on a "temporary “waiver” (a formal legal exemption allowing some member states to exceed their limits), a non-binding political statement by the conference’s chairperson or some option in between. Flexibility along these lines has sometimes been called a “peace clause” or “due restraint”, because members would avoid bringing legal disputes against developing countries in these circumstances."

jk/rz 

Philippine quake survivors are trapped and in need of help


Loon, Bohol - Boys on bicycles inspect the school's broken gymnasium in the town following a powerful 7.2 magnitude quake on 15 October 2013.
photo: ©jason gutierrez/IRIN

(IRIN) BOHOL, 17 October 2013 - As rescuers and aid workers struggle to reach central Philippine townships hit by a powerful quake, shell-shocked survivors await assistance in open air camps. The number of displaced is more than 150,000, according to the government. 

In the worst-hit agricultural community of Loon town on Bohol Island, hundreds of families have built an improvised camp in front of a mountain of rubble that was once the Our Lady of Light Catholic Church, one of dozens of historic churches that crumbled in the 15 October quake.

"Our houses have been destroyed, many are heavily damaged. Those that are still standing are cracked, with the electrical wires sticking out. What will happen to us in the event of a powerful aftershock?," said Ashton Sevilla, a village councillor, as he and his wife and young son pitched a tent made from salvaged tarpaulin in the courtyard of the destroyed church.

Beside them, men, women, children - young and old - cluster in groups to cook in the open. They have enough food and water for now, but the supplies will only be good for about a week, they say.

 With aid taking time to reach devastated areas due to many fallen bridges, and with damaged roads still not clear of debris from landslides, the sense of desperation is palpable. 

"We're trapped here and just waiting for relief workers to reach us. We can't get out of town," Sevilla said.

Most shops have been flattened, and while many still have working vehicles, there is only a limited supply of petrol. Bridges that connect the agricultural town of about 42,000 to the nearest sea ports have crumbled.

The 7.2-magnitude quake, one of the most powerful to strike the archipelago nation of 105 million in decades, destroyed buildings and triggered landslides that buried many homes. 

"Overwhelmed"  

Of the more than three million people affected, 97,618 are in 85 evacuation centres in Bohol and Cebu provinces, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported on 17 October, while another 60,848 were being assisted outside.     

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) on 17 October, at least 161 people have now been confirmed dead, mostly in Bohol, with some 375 injured and 21 still missing. 

Close to 20,000 homes were either partially or totally destroyed in Bohol and Cebu provinces, while many churches, schools and private and government offices were also damaged. At least 20 bridges were knocked out, while stretches of highway linking key urban centres are heavily damaged, it said, hampering relief efforts. 

"We are asking the public to understand and be patient. Many of us have also been affected. We want to bring aid to those in need, but there remains a problem in terms of trying to reach them," regional disaster defence head Minda Morante said.

"We are overwhelmed, but we are trying to get to everyone as soon as we can. We understand that there are gaps in the emergency response," she said.

Humanitarian response  

On 16 October, a joint team from the DSWD and the Humanitarian Country Team was deployed to the area, including the town of Carmen, the quake's epicentre, to conduct a rapid needs assessment for Bohol, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported. 

Priority sectors identified so far are camp coordination and camp management, emergency shelter, food and non-food items, protection, coordination and information management, while the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA) is chartering a flight in the coming days to deliver shelter and non-food items from Malaysia to Bohol.

"Very little assistance is getting through. There are significant logistical constraints," said David Carden, OCHA's head of office in Manila and a member of the joint team. "We need to step up our efforts to help these people," he said, citing emergency shelter and access to water as priority needs, as well as "creative solutions" in getting assistance in faster.

aag/ds/cb   

On International Day of the Girl Child, World Vision empowers girls to become strong women 

(CNW) MISSISSAUGA, ON, October 10, 2013 - Tomorrow, in honor of the third annual U.N.-sanctioned International Day of the Girl Child, World Vision encourages Canadians to talk with sisters, mothers, daughters and other influential women in their lives about how strong girls and women can make a strong world.

The Numbers

An estimated 85 million children worldwide are doing hazardous 3D jobs (dirty, dangerous and degrading). For girls, this includes prostitution, domestic work in private homes, and harvesting coffee, sugar and cocoa. Globally, 61 per cent of female youths still cannot read or write. Poverty is a major barrier to secondary education, especially among older girls. Many are denied access to education because of early marriage and other cultural practices. Even gathering water is often a burden that prevents girls from going to school. Every single day, 786 women die from complications of pregnancy or childbirth - most could be prevented with access to proper nutrition and medical care.

The Fight

When 10 per cent more of its girls go to school, a country's GDP increases an average of three per cent. World Vision works to protect children, especially survivors of conflicts, disasters and gender-based violence. For example, in Jordan and Lebanon, the agency is helping thousands of Syrian refugee families. World Vision helps girls and women access better health care in about 100 countries. In rural Tanzania , for example, the agency is teaching new moms about nutrition for their children and how to prevent diarrhea, pneumonia and HIV and AIDS. In Ethiopia, World Vision has launched a Literacy Boost program to make a difference in how children learn.

The Tools

Engage in fashion advocacy by gifting jewelry, scarves, T-shirts and other handcrafted accessories that fund women's development programs. Through the World Vision Gift Catalogue, donating as little as $35 - the cost of the average blouse - can help provide a young woman with job training or school supplies for a year.

Learn more about issues that affect girls through World Vision's Voices for Children network. Arrange a screening of documentary, "Girl Rising" in your local area. By engaging on International Day of the Girl Child, millions of vulnerable girls in the world are empowered and equipped to become strong women, like our sisters, mothers and friends.
World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender.

Visit their web site at: worldvision.ca.

Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict: Democratic Republic of Congo must protect Dr. Denis Mukwege after violent attack

(APO) KINSHASA, Dem. Rep. of Congo, October 27, 2012- The International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict urgently calls on the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to protect Doctor Denis Mukwege after a violent attack and assassination attempt at his home in Bukavu Dr.

Mukwege is a world-renowned surgeon and director of Panzi Hospital in Eastern Congo's South Kivu province. The clinic has treated over 30,000 survivors of sexual violence. Campaign member Physicians for Human Rights, reported that earlier today four armed men entered Dr. Mukwege's home in his absence and held several family members at gunpoint.

Upon his arrival, they forced him out of his car, shooting and killing a security guard who tried to intervene. Dr. Mukwege ducked when the armed men fired shots towards him, before driving off in his car, which was found abandoned soon after. Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee said, “Dr. Mukwege embodies the strength of Congolese women who never relent in the face of such senseless violence.

I join the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict, and others, in calling for the Democratic Republic of Congo to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice.” The Campaign sends its condolences to the family of Joseph Bizmana, the guard killed in the attack.

We fear for the safety and well being of Dr. Denis Mukwege and his family. Moreover, we are alarmed that the attempt on his life has a possible link to activities that Dr. Mukwege undertook in support of advocacy for the Campaign in September at the United Nations, spotlighting the increasing rape and gender violence in Eastern Congo.

At an event co-hosted by the Campaign and attended by government and UN officials as well as Nobel Peace Laureates Leymah Gbowee and Jody Williams, Dr. Mukwege stated, “This year I am once again operating on women whose genitals were destroyed by rape and other atrocities. There are many women who are barely getting by, and rape is continuing.

The rainy season is coming soon in North Kivu and the vulnerability of women is increasing.” He ended by calling for “urgent action to arrest those responsible for these crimes against humanity and to bring them to justice.” Jody Williams noted, “Instead of heeding his call, the response was a violent act of cowardice by those who fear his truths.”

Dr. Mukwege is a founding member of the Advisory Committee of the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict, which launched earlier this year to coordinate action to highlight the widespread rates of gender violence around the world. Susannah Sirkin, Deputy Director at Physicians for Human Rights said, “Thousands of Congolese women and girls put at risk following incidents of sexual violence have depended on Dr. Mukwege for their lives and well-being.”

Physicians for Human Rights has recently conducted a training workshop at Panzi Hospital, where it has an office. “The attempted assassination of Dr. Mukwege and the murdering of his security guard once again highlights how deadly serious the situation is in Eastern Congo. One of the great men of the world was almost murdered tonight.

We cannot let this continue,” stated V-Day Founder/playwright and Campaign member Eve Ensler. The International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict calls on the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to take immediate steps to protect Dr. Mukwege and his family, and on the international community to speak out in solidarity of our extraordinary ally.

Judge extends temporary restraining order protecting cheerleaders' religious speech 

KISD Superintendent Concedes He Received "Bad Legal Advice"

(PRN/USN) KOUNTZE, TEXAS, October 4, 2012 - Yesterday, Beaumont attorney David Starnes and Liberty Institute represented the Kountze ISD cheerleaders on the eve of the first varsity home football game since the TRO was put into place.

The District Court extended the temporary restraining order for two more weeks during the all-day and at times emotional public hearing. The ruling allows the cheerleaders to display the religious banner they already made that includes the words: "Run with endurance the race that God has set before you."

 "We are optimistic that the judge will rule in our favor based upon today's proceedings," said Mike Johnson, Senior Counsel for Liberty Institute. "We are especially pleased with the testimony of the Superintendent, who testified that his actions in banning the cheerleaders' signs violated school policy and that he did so because he received bad legal advice from the school district's attorney."

 Liberty Institute attorneys will be in attendance at tonights night's game. A large crowd is expected to support the cheerleaders. Liberty Institute is a nonprofit legal group dedicated to defending and restoring religious liberty across America — in our schools, for our churches and throughout the public arena. Liberty's vision is to reestablish religious liberty in accordance with the principles of our Founding Fathers. For information, visit www.LibertyInstitute.org.

IRAQ: Mine-free target of 2018 target will be missed

An NGO de-miners search for unexploded ordnance in a field in Radhwaniya district western Baghdad December 7, 2008. photo: Saad Shalash/REUTERS


(IRIN) BAGHDAD, 22 May 2012 - Iraq is drawing detailed maps of areas contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), but is unlikely to clear these areas by a 2018 deadline, says a government official.

“Lack of detailed maps for landmines was one of the major problems and it delayed our mine-clearance efforts because the previous regime planted them randomly,” Deputy Environment Minister Kamal Hussein Latif told IRIN.

“We have teamed up with the ministries of interior and defence since 2011 to start our own survey which will help to identify the exact contaminated areas,” he said.

Despite this, Latif added, the country will not meet the 2018 deadline to clear all landmines and UXO. Iraq set itself the target in 2008 when it joined the Ottawa Convention, under which it committed not to use, produce, acquire or export landmines.

The first province to be mine-mapped is Thi Qar, 400km south of Baghdad, where 98sqkm are confirmed as hazardous. Teams will continue work this year in the most contaminated southern provinces of Basra, Maysan, Muthana and Wasit.

“These areas represent almost 80 percent of the contaminated areas nationwide,” the deputy minister said. “The maps, which we plan to have ready by the end of the year, will help us draw up the best plans and the budget, and identify the number of teams needed and the time required to clear each area.”

Many of Iraq’s landmines date back to the 1960s when fighting began between the Baghdad government and pro-independence Kurdish rebels in the north. The 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war, the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 US-led invasion added to the problems.

The largest contaminated area stretches for hundreds of kilometres along the border with Iran. Large quantities of UXO also remain scattered throughout cities and towns. Today, Iraq is one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world with landmines and UXO covering 1,730sqkm, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP). Around 1.6 million Iraqis in 1,600 communities, or one in every 20 Iraqis, are affected.

Up to 90 percent of contaminated land is agricultural, with many landmines also found around major oil fields.

A recent survey conducted by the UN Inter Agency Information and Analysis Unit found that per capita income is lower in mine-contaminated areas; education achievement is lower in mine-contaminated areas; households in districts with mines are more food insecure; residents of districts with mines rate services such as education and electricity access poorer than those without mines, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In 2011, some 30 mine-related incidents were reported with 33 percent of cases fatal. According to UNDP, about 60 percent of reported landmine incidents involved people aged 25-44, while 47 percent of reported UXO incidents involved children aged 5-14.

Frustrated by the slow pace of demining, the government also plans to involve private deminers. “If I work according to the Defence Ministry approach we will need 25 more years and that’s why we want the private sector to get involved,” said Latif.

sm/eo/cb

AFGHANISTAN: Drawdown focuses aid workers minds

Mahboba Sharieffy, a Community Based Educator (CBE) addresses a health Shura attended by pregnant and lactating mothers in District 8 in Kabul, Afghanistan on the 10th October, 2010. Care International has trained Community Based Educators (CBE's) in each of Kabul's districts to visit pregnant and lactating mothers. The CBE's organise bi monthly health shuras in which they educate women about health issues surrounding pregnancy and motherhood. photo: Kate Holt/IRIN©


(IRIN) KABUL, 21 May 2012 - With the clock ticking down to Afghanistan's transition in 2014, including the withdrawal of most foreign military forces, humanitarians have said it is time to consider post-transition scenarios and how that will impact aid delivery and operations.

“We are reviewing our activities and going through a lot of assessments right now, both from a reduction in funds perspective but also in a potential deterioration of security,” said an aid worker who preferred anonymity.

The transition will see the Afghan military take control of the country's security from the International Security Assistance Force. But according to a statement by a group of NGOs, it is taking place in a context of rising violence against civilians, growing internal displacement, and increasing protection concerns.

“Potentially we see a civil war, a lot of political trouble, with riots, demonstrations and attacks,” said a Western analyst who preferred anonymity. Observers agree some places, like Mazar-e-Sharif in the north, will maintain some continuity, but what could unfold in other areas across the country is “anybody’s guess”.

Some organizations say they are already experiencing large cuts in foreign aid - and are anticipating and planning for more - and are relying more heavily on strategies such as community based approaches and subsistence planning. The former aims to ensure continued work in insecure areas in case international staff leave and the latter to make sure communities are focusing on basic foods for subsistence and not dependent on imported goods.

“It’s quite hard to know where that might happen, because that internal conflict can break out in many places, so doing contingency planning on that basis is quite difficult,” UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said during a recent visit to Kabul.

“As for the longer term political process in terms of the drawdown of forces, everyone right now is focusing on how we can make sure that happens as efficiently and effectively as possible," she added. "There is a process with ongoing conferences, and countries in the region are talking about how to offer support. The more you are able to have stability and security, the more the other elements of human development and livelihood support [the transition].”

Observers say a number of scenarios could play out ahead of the transition. The most desired, yet least expected, is to have all political parties sitting together at the negotiating table. However, increasing political and ethnic fragmentation in cities across the country, declining property markets, an imposed cash cap on money leaving Kabul airport, and re-armament in the north, are indicators of a possible breakdown in security and continued fighting.

“Usually plan A does not work here, so we plan B, C, D, all the way down to Z,” said one Western observer, who was commenting on ongoing contingency planning. The challenge, from an operational perspective, was how to keep up with the changes and continue operations on the ground when the situation is constantly shifting.

Challenges highlighted by aid workers include the negative effect on aid operations caused by the decline in aid money, the departure from the country of qualified Afghans, and a growing number of internally displaced people, especially those returning from Iran and Pakistan.

“It is about the reality of transition, that you have international forces that have brought with them development resources and aid into different parts of the country," Amos said. "So if you have a wind-down of that development, the potential exists for greater humanitarian needs because people are dropping over the edge into greater vulnerability."

Many observers are not convinced that less military presence will change anything in Afghans’ lives, though one of the main challenges for the international community is how to pay the civil service and maintain the level of effort put in by police, army and civil servants, especially if security continues to deteriorate.

“For the people in need and all the people on the cusp that are getting by, their situation can only get worse,” said a Western analyst. “These organizations can’t deal with the load they have now because they constantly have to re-look at strategies with constant emergencies coming along.”

International humanitarian workers say working atmospheres are tense and staff morale is down due to staff cuts. One of their biggest concerns, as part of a larger humanitarian crisis, is their Afghan counterparts desire to leave the country.

Afghan staff are also increasingly concerned about the growing insecurity and the risks involved in working for the UN - not only to them but also their families. Should international staff be forced to leave the country or relocate, many fear there will be fewer national aid workers on the ground, which means less access to local communities and people in need, making it harder to ensure key services and basic needs continue to be met.

Amos, who visited an informal settlement and met some 80 families in Parwan e Se, just outside central Kabul, said that while figures demonstrate that the overall security situation in the country has improved, over the past year there were some places where internal displacement had increased because of ongoing conflict.

The UN estimates there are half a million internally displaced people across the country. Amnesty International says displacement is on the rise: In the first half of 2011, 91,000 people fled their homes due to internal conflict - up by 46 percent on the first half of 2010.

Political tensions with Iran and Pakistan over Kabul’s strategic partnership with Washington have also resulted in threats to expel Afghan refugees residing in the two countries.

“The proposed plan to rapidly increase the [Afghan national forces] to 350,000 by the end of 2014 only to cut it to 250,000 within two or three years is greatly concerning,” the NGO consortium statement said.

“Such a push is not only a waste of resources that otherwise could have been focused on training and equipping a smaller [Afghan force], but also may contribute to the proliferation of arms and armed groups, thus increasing the risks to civilians.”

td/eo/cb/oa

Media Faces New Crackdown


(IPS) JERUSALEM, May 1, 2012 - The Palestinian Authority’s arrest of journalists and activists critical of its policies are threatening freedom of expression and journalistic freedoms in the West Bank, according to local human rights groups.

"We monitored a new trend of arresting people and journalists and the oppression of freedom of expression," Shawan Jabarin, director of Palestinian human rights group Al Haq told IPS. "There are many people I’m sure that are afraid and will count to ten before they say anything. Maybe they’ll push people to speak underground instead of expressing their opinions freely."

In the most recent case, the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces summoned 23-year-old Hasan Abbadi for interrogation near his home in the West Bank village Sabastya, in the Nablus area. Abbadi, a student at Al-Najah University, was accused of "creating disunity" through his political cartoons.

He spent some days in jail, before being released on 3,000 Jordanian Dinars (4,200 dollars) bail, and is currently awaiting trial.

"I think they’re using different words here and there, just to undermine these people in the eyes of the public and to say that they are creating trouble and creating divisions. It’s a political judgment more than (anything) illegal," said Jabarin.

Jabarin said most charges leveled against Palestinian journalists are based on the Jordanian Penal Code, dating back to 1960. Palestinian attorney general Ahmad al-Maghni has failed to protect Palestinian freedoms in the West Bank and should be held responsible for the arrests, he added.

"(Al-Maghni’s) role is to protect the freedoms and the rights of the people in the face of arbitrary detention, instead of arresting people. Here, we see him acting quickly and exaggerating with all of these (charges). And at the same time, he’s closing his ears and his eyes on the (real) crimes going on," Jabarin said.

"He is not taking into his mind that the law that he is using was approved in 1960 and these days, we are in 2012 and the main principle now in all the world is freedom of expression."

PA security forces have arrested dozens of Palestinian journalists, bloggers, students and activists in recent weeks. Many have been detained for statements they made on social networking sites like Facebook that were critical of the PA, while others were targeted for articles and other work they published.

Jordan Valley activist Jamal Abu-Rihan was interrogated on Apr. 1 in relation to a Facebook page he runs that pushes for an end to corruption. He was accused of writing political statements against PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian journalist Yousef Al-Shayeb was also arrested, in late March, after publishing an investigative report in the Jordanian Al-Ghad newspaper that questioned the activities of the Palestinian Authority embassy in Paris, and refusing to reveal his sources.

"The protection of sources is universally accepted as an essential tenet of independent reporting," president of the International Federation of Journalists, Jim Boumelha, said in a statement condemning the arrest. "Journalists the world over will be outraged that (Shayeb) has been sentenced for upholding such a basic principle. He has no case to answer and should be released immediately."

Al-Shayeb was eventually jailed and accused of libel and of creating disunity among Palestinians. He conducted a hunger strike in protest against his detention before being released on bail in early April. Protests were also held in the West Bank while Al-Shayeb was in prison, calling for his release. He is now awaiting trial.

"Arrests and harassment and attacks against journalists in Palestine are enhancing fear and censorship among journalists," Moussa Rinawi, director of the Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) told IPS.

"The level of local media will become worse and worse, and psychologically, it is affecting journalists. We are against harassment and attacks against journalists, either by the Israeli side or Palestinians."

In late April, Palestinian Ma’an News Agency reported that the PA had instructed Internet service providers to block access to news websites that were critical of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Since the report came out, PA communications minister Mashour Abu Daka has resigned from his post. Attorney General al-Maghni, for his part, has defended the decision to block the websites, arguing that they were censored for security reasons and because personal complaints had been made against their content.

According to Rinawi, the censorship is a bad sign for media freedoms in Palestine.

"We were proud that the Internet is open in Palestine and there is no censorship on the Internet and any journalist can post anything and can open any site. The last few months, we noticed there is some control of Facebook and social media in general, and they blocked some sites. It’s a bad phenomenon," Rinawi said.

He added that mobilising Palestinian civil society in order to protect freedom of speech is crucial.

"When there is a strong reaction on the arrest of (Shayeb), they released him. We need to increase the pressure from the Palestinian civil society organisations. Civil society activities are having a result."

by jillian kestler-d’amours

ASIA: Containing anti-malarial drug resistance in Mekong

Burmese malaria patient in northeastern Thailand. photo:ashley clements©

(IRIN) BANGKOK, 26 May 1, 2012 - Resistance to an anti-malaria drug, artemisinin, is suspected along the Thailand-Myanmar border and in southern Vietnam, but scientists are hoping that it can be contained. Artemisinin resistance emerged on the Thailand-Cambodia border around eight years ago.

Resistance - the ability of the malaria parasite to survive drugs intended to kill it quickly - to chloroquine, an antimalarial previously widely used, forced treatment to change in the early 1970s and also originated in what is known as the Greater Mekong sub-region, which includes Cambodia, the southern provinces of China, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Chloroquine resistance spread to India and then to sub-Saharan Africa, which has the world’s highest burden of the disease.

Decades later, faced with another bout of resistance, officials are cautiously optimistic about preventing the spread of resistance to artemisinin.

"So far, we haven't found any artemisinin resistance outside the Mekong region… I think we have good chances to keep it in the Mekong region," Pascal Ringwald, coordinator of the global malaria programme for the World Health Organization (WHO), told a meeting of experts on antimalarial drug resistance in Bangkok.

He noted that the suspected cases of drug resistance along the two Thai borders appeared to be "totally independent, and it raises a concern that it could emerge anywhere."

Resistance to artemisinin is not necessarily fatal for patients because partner drugs can boost its efficacy when it falters, but treatment may take longer and be more expensive.

Studies published earlier in April, covering more than 3,200 patients along the northwestern border of Thailand near Myanmar from 2001 to 2010, indicated a steady increase in drug resistance from 0.6 percent of surveyed patients to 20 percent after a decade.

Scientists are still searching for the exact causes of the resistance, but link it to the widespread use of monotherapies, in which only artemisinin is prescribed.

Despite an international resolution addressing the danger of monotherapies, 25 countries and 28 pharmaceutical companies continue to market them.

Monotherapies are easier and less expensive to manufacture and market than combination therapies, which pair artemisinin with other drugs (artemisinin combination therapies, or ACTs) but they speed the development of resistance to artemisinin in malaria parasites. According to WHO, the parasite is highly unlikely to become drug resistant to ACTs.

Other possible factors in resistance are parasite biology, human behaviour (like not taking the correct dosage or type of antimalaria drugs) and counterfeit drugs.

The four countries most affected thus far by artemisinin resistance are Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, the most affected, with 69 percent of its population living in areas where malaria is endemic, or prevalent.

Poor data has made it difficult to get a clear picture of the threat in Myanmar, where conflict zones are still largely off-limits to aid workers.

A national malaria containment project, implemented in 2011, has started yielding important data, but WHO notes that a lack of funding is stunting its rollout. “We are starting to get more baseline data to better map the situation,” said Ringwald.

Myanmar currently chairs the expert group on communicable diseases for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and will be responsible for implementing any regional work plan on containment, said Ferdinal Fernando, the association’s head of health and communicable diseases division.

While there are several national and regional plans to fight resistance to malaria, there is no regional coordination and a lack of cross-border collaboration to contain it, according to WHO experts trying to get the issue on the agenda of a meeting from 2 to 6 July of ASEAN health ministers.

In 2010, there were about 216 million malaria cases globally, and an estimated 655, 000 deaths.

pt/he

MYANMAR: Ethnic minorities call for caution as sanctions ease

Zipporah Sein, General-Secretary of the KNU. photo: contributor/IRIN

Warabung displaced persons camp in Kachin State, northern Myanmar December 2011. photo: contributor/IRIN©

(IRIN) CHIANG MAI, April 27, 2012 - Ethnic minority groups in Myanmar are calling on the international community to set stronger benchmarks or steps in the incremental removal of international sanctions, following this week's announcement by the European Union (EU) to suspend sanctions for a year, retaining only the embargo on arms sales.

 “Now more than ever, it’s important that our voice is heard,” Zipporah Sein, general secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU) told IRIN on 27 April. “If sanctions are to be lifted, it’s important that specific benchmarks be put in place.” Many argue there can be no real progress towards democracy until the country formerly known as Burma makes peace with all its ethnic groups.

 Viewed as key to the development of Myanmar, the suspension of EU sanctions announced on 23 April is seen as another major endorsement of Burmese President U Thein Sein’s recent political reforms, which include the release of hundreds of political prisoners, new laws allowing labour unions and strikes, a gradual easing of media restrictions, and ceasefire agreements with various ethnic rebel groups.

The Burmese government has had contentious relationships with its ethnic minority groups, which account for about a third of the country’s more than 54 million inhabitants, and many have fought for greater autonomy or secession for their regions since the country gained independence from Great Britain in 1948.

At the weekend, leaders of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), an umbrella group comprised of 11 of Myanmar’s leading ethnic groups - including the Mon, Shan, Karenni, Chin, and Kachin people - released a statement announcing that they were prepared to meet with Myanmar's chief negotiator, U Aung Min Aung Min, to present their version of a durable roadmap to peace. At the end of 2011, the government launched peace initiatives with several of Myanmar’s ethnic armies.

“The UNFC has the same position as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi [leader of the National League for Democracy, Burma’s main opposition party],” said KNU Vice President David Tharckabaw, during the meeting in northern Thailand near the Burmese border.

“We support the rule of law, the amendment of the constitution, and building internal peace.” Tharckabaw, along with other members of the UNFC, maintains that political dialogue, not resource development, must be the top priority after a nationwide cease-fire is reached. The EU’s decision to ease sanctions follows an announcement by Washington a week earlier that the US will relax some financial restrictions on the country to support certain humanitarian and development projects.

 "These [steps] were… in response to what we viewed as very positive parliamentary elections," US State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a news briefing on 17 April. Less than a week later, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced that his government would resume loans to Myanmar, and cancel US$3.7 billion of debt owed by the impoverished nation after by-elections that saw Aung San Suu Kyi’s party win 43 of the 44 contested seats earlier in April. Some $61 million to assist ethnic minorities, improve medical care and other rural development programmes, as well as disaster prevention efforts, were also pledged, the Japan Times reported. Canada suspended most of its sanctions on 24 April.

Nevertheless, there are also calls for caution, particularly in Myanmar’s ethnic minority areas. “The suspension of EU sanctions keeps the pressure on the Burmese government to continue reforms, while also making a strong positive gesture that genuine reforms will be rewarded,” said Anna Roberts, executive director of Burma Campaign UK.

“For the threat of re-imposition of sanctions to be credible, the EU must set clear timelines and benchmarks.” Speaking before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs on 26 April, Joseph Yun, principle deputy assistant secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the US State Department, noted: “In Rakhine State systematic discrimination and denial of human rights against ethnic Rohingya remains deplorable.

Overall, the legacy of five decades of military rule - repressive laws, a pervasive security apparatus, a corrupt judiciary, and media censorship - is all too present.” Fighting continues in Kachin State, in northern Myanmar, as thousands of displaced people in camps brace for the coming monsoon season. “Right now, the IDP [internally displaced person] number is increasing” along the edge of the areas controlled by the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO), General Secretary La Ja reported.

 “There are about 75,000 internally displaced people in Kachin State. Now that the rainy season is setting in, they will be needing shelter, food and medicine.” Current UN planning figures put the number of displaced at between 50,000 and 55,000, while international access to areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the military arm of the KIO, remains limited. La Ja says the recent armed build-up of government troops, and the escalation in attacks, is out of step with the government's words of peace. “We want the first step to be that the government… withdraws, [and] re-positions their… troops. Their troops are very close to the KIA troops - that can spark many problems and a never-ending conflict.”

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YEMEN: Akhdam community angered by government neglect

Yemen, the Akhdem community. photo: © nasser arrabyee/IRIN

(IRIN) SANA'A, 20 April 2012 - Authorities in Yemen are yet to resolve the “marginalization” of the minority Akhdam people, weeks after thousands protested in the capital Sana’a over low pay and lack of work contracts, say community members.

“The Akhdam are not simply second class citizens,” a protester said from his tent in Change Square. “They are more like fifth or sixth class citizens; the lowest class in the whole republic.”

Despite speaking Arabic and practising Islam in the country for over 1,000 years, the Akhdam, who prefer to be called Al Muhamasheen, or “marginalized ones”, have never felt a part of the majority.

The most visible marker of the Akhdam’s status in Yemeni society is the menial occupations they perform. Men roam the streets on 10-hour shifts sweeping and collecting rubbish, while women and children collect up cans and bottles and beg for handouts.

Popular myth traces their arrival in Yemen to the 5th or 6th century, when the group’s Ethiopian ancestors crossed the Red Sea in a failed bid to conquer the southern corner of the Arabian peninsula.

After the arrival of Islam, so the myth goes, Muslim rulers defeated the Ethiopian army and sent them into exile. The ones who stayed were enslaved and relegated to the fringes of society, where they have remained despite the replacement in 1962 of a caste-like Imamate with the egalitarian promises of a modern state. They are thought to number around one million, mostly concentrated in urban slums in Taiz and Sana’a.

The prospect of democratic reforms envisaged in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plan which pulled Yemen from the brink of civil war in 2012 raised hopes that the situation would improve for the Akhdam people, but little has happened yet.


In early April 2012, for the second time in as many months, some 4,000 street sweepers in the capital went on strike in protest over unfulfilled promises by the government to raise their pay and extend their daily contracts. After only a few days off the job, Sana’a’s streets became like an urban landfill site, forcing interim Prime Minister Mohammed Basindawa to negotiate with the disenfranchized group.

Nabil, a 30-year-old street sweeper living in Mukhayyim Aser, an Akhdam slum near the presidential palace, told IRIN a day after the prime minister promised permanent contracts to the temporary workers, “Basindawa has not changed anything…

“My friend has been working as a street sweeper for 35 years and still does not have a job contract,” he added. “That’s why we’re on strike.”

One prominent Akhdam is Nabil Al Maktari, president of the Yemeni Organization Against Slavery and Discrimination. He spent 2011 protesting alongside thousands of other Yemenis - students, professors, soldiers and political activists - demanding the overthrow of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government.

According to Maktari, however, the new government has ceded some ground to the street sweepers. At the end of 2011, the prime minister’s office gave 50,000 riyals (US$235) to local Akhdam chiefs who represent the cleaners and provide them with protection. “But the workers never saw that money,” he said.

Even Saleh yielded to the workers’ demands, Maktari said, increasing their daily pay to 800 riyals ($3.75) at the onset of the Yemeni Spring in 2011. But despite the government’s concessions, Maktari said, “the street sweepers still have no holidays, not even during Eid. And if a tribal person kills a Khadem [member of the Akhdam community; which happened several times during the Yemeni protests] there is no way for his family to seek justice. Even though they’re Yemeni citizens, no laws exist for these crimes.”

Many Akhdam view the stop-gap measures by Saleh and Basindawa with suspicion. An elder in the Al Hasaba slum, in a pocket of Sana’a which saw some of the heaviest fighting during last year’s revolts, said officials from Saleh’s regime paid him and his neighbours to carry pro-Saleh signs at the beginning of the uprisings. “They don’t help us until they need help,” he said.

Government officials say there is “no discrimination” against the Akhdam and that they are like every other Yemeni before the law; and they point to the construction of public housing for the Akhdam in Sana’a’s Sawan area as proof.

Mohammed Al Eryani, assistant deputy mayor of Sana’a, told IRIN the Akhdam are perhaps the only employees of the central government who do not have benefits like permanent contracts and pensions.

While admitting the Akhdam are targets of some of the worst racism in the country, Eryani said the reason they have never been awarded contracts or other benefits is because they are unreliable. “One day a Khadem may wake up to find that his car won’t start, so he will spend the day fixing it instead of going into work.”

Asked whether the plight of the Akhdam would improve under the new government, a young street sweeper named Khaled in Mukhayyim Aser said: “So far, we haven’t seen any changes. Things have been almost the same as before the revolution got started. So to answer your question, no.”

A woman standing next to him said, “maybe”.

cc/eo/cb

SRI LANKA: Tsunami preparedness pays off

photo: courtesy of the Sri Lankan Red Cross


(IRIN) COLOMBO, 19 April 2012 - Strong community awareness and preparedness are being cited for last week's successful evacuation of more than one million Sri Lankans after a tsunami alert was triggered by an 8.6 magnitude earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia.

"People were well prepared on how to evacuate. Everyone knew what to do, what routes to take," Major General Gamini Hettiarchchi, the director general of Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre (DMC), On 11 April at 2:08 pm local time, less than an hour after the quake, Sri Lanka's Metrological Department issued the warning and a call to evacuate to higher ground. Two hours later a second warning was issued following an 8.2 aftershock.

The earthquake occurred 440km southwest of Banda Aceh, the city most impacted by the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, which left over 230,000 people dead across more than a dozen countries, including more than 35,000 in Sri Lanka.

This time, more than 1,500 coastal communities from Puttalam District in the west to Jaffna District at the very northern tip of the island were evacuated in less than two hours.

Village level committees, set up under DMC supervision, were activated to oversee and assist in the evacuations, and on a national level the DMC office in the capital, Colombo, coordinated with district level committees and DMC district sub-units.

Nationwide alerts were sent out on radio, television and mobile phone networks, while the police and armed services were mobilized to communicate the warning to villages. At the same time, 75 tsunami warning towers along the coast were activated to set off sirens, Hettiarchchi said.

Although some towers failed to work property, the vast majority did, alerting coastal residents to the potential threat throughout this island nation. Many people had participated in awareness training and drills in recent years.

"In 2004, no one really knew what a tsunami was. Now everyone along the coast knows what it is, but more importantly, how to safely relocate," Hettiarchchi noted. The catastrophic tsunami served as a catalyst for the establishment of the DMC, with the Disaster Management Act coming into effect in mid-2005.

"Both globally and regionally people are much more aware now," said Bob McKerrow, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Sri Lanka. He had been travelling along the southern Sri Lankan coast when the warning came, and said he witnessed firsthand the orderly manner of the evacuation. "The awareness levels were quite high," he confirmed.

Since 2004, the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC) has spent US$1.3 million on bolstering community-based early warning mechanisms by setting up local groups to assist in evacuations, mapping out safe routes and locations, and installing tsunami sirens.

The SLRC's Branch Disaster Response Teams (BDRT) were also deployed within minutes of the first tremor in eastern Sri Lanka to assess the situation and remain on standby to assist in evacuation procedures.

Within seconds of the first quake people sought information from all sources. "Overall the community awareness created helped people. Everyone who was handling the emergency was calm and in control of the situation," McKerrow said.

Residents along the coast said awareness programmes conducted by the DMC, the SLRC and other agencies had made the difference. "This time we all knew what to do, unlike in 2004 when we knew nothing and waited on the coast," said G S K Herath, who lives in the southern town of Matara.

Despite last week's largely positive review, there are still issues that need to be addressed. "Traffic is one area we need to look at more closely," Hettiarchchi conceded. Several coastal cities, including Colombo, reported severe traffic congestion soon after the tsunami warning was issued as thousands tried get to safety.

Mobile phone service also needs attention. Post-warning mobile communication was poor, as networks became overloaded and getting a connection was difficult. This might explain why the DMC was unable to use its own cellular phone broadcast facility to send messages to close to seven million mobile users.

"The other important thing is to find out why some of the [tsunami] towers failed to react to the warning communication," Hettiarchchi said, adding that the DMC plans to increase the number of coastal warning towers from 75 to 100 in the next year.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in the last seven years, countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka have invested heavily in improving disaster response capacity and early warning.

ap/ds/he

Two Hundred Activists to Launch Themselves off Mt. Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro from the air. photo: charles j. sharp

Tanzanian Authorities Wave the Green Flag

(PRN-ASIA ) SYDNEY, April 18, 2012 - Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) has announced approval for philanthropic organisation, Wings of Kilimanjaro's request to launch two hundred paragliding and hang-gliding global activists off Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. The official flight date is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, February 5, 2013.

Set to mark a global first, the group plan to ascend the gruelling 19,341 feet or 5,895 metre mountain, the highest point in Africa and then launch from the peak. The aim of this endeavour is to raise a million dollars to provide financial funding for education, health and environmental aid in Tanzania.

Adrian McRae, the Australian founder behind Wings of Kilimanjaro, says, "Knowing that we have set out to achieve something that has never been done before will be a challenge for everyone involved, but the reward lies in knowing that together we will help raise global awareness and much needed funding for development in Africa." McRae is no stranger to the mountain, having successfully completed a climb in 2003.

Allan Kijazi, Director General of Tanzania National Parks, says, "We are proud to showcase the picturesque Tanzanian National Parks to the world, and hope to draw attention and awareness towards helping those who need it most." Permission for this much anticipated event has been granted by the Tanzanian National Parks, Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority and Tanzanian Military, who have all promised their support.

The event will also see Wings of Kilimanjaro collaborate with two local based charities, Plant with Purpose and the One Foundation. Scott Sabin, Executive Director with Plant with Purpose says, "Through raising awareness and funds, Wings of Kilimanjaro will join us in healing the land and empowering local people. Thanks to their efforts, it's more than just pilots who will soar in 2013."

Plant with Purpose works with 38 different communities in the regions surrounding Mt. Kilimanjaro to create alternatives to deforestation, share tools needed to empower local people to replenish the land and improve their lives. The One Foundation is a UK based charity, working with communities in Africa to address some of the most humanitarian issues of today - clean water, HIV, sanitation and nutrition.

For further information please visit: www.wingsofkilimanjaro.com

South Sudan: Heglig and the border

Nuba soldiers from the SPLA-N 9th division at a checkpoint in Jau, on the disputed border between Sudan and South Sudan. photo: peter moszynski/IRIN

Almost half of Sudan’s oil is pumped out of Heglig. photo: UNEP

(IRIN) NAIROBI, 13 April 2012 - Once again the disputed and oil-rich borderland area of Heglig is at the centre of a confrontation between Sudan and the newly-independent South Sudan, giving rise to renewed fears of a resumption of all-out war.

The African Union’s (AU) Peace and Security Council has described South Sudan’s occupation of Heglig as illegal, saying it lies north of the 1956 border which Juba and Khartoum agreed - in a 2005 accord that ended decades of civil war - would be their common frontier should the south eventually secede, which indeed it did in July 2011.

Sudan has warned its neighbour of strikes deep inside its territory if it fails to withdraw from Heglig, which South Sudan also claims.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has spoken directly to South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, also to urge a withdrawal.

For its part, South Sudan has accused Sudan of repeatedly bombing its territory since November and of dropping five bombs on Bentiu, the capital of Unity State, on 12 April. That day, South Sudan President Salva Kiir addressed parliament in his capital, Juba.

“I always say we will not take the people of South Sudan back to war, but if we are being aggressed like this we will have to defend ourselves,” he said.

“I am appealing to the citizens of the Republic of Sudan, especially the mothers, not to allow their children to be dragged into a meaningless war,”

Where is Heglig?

More pertinently, does it lie in Sudan, or South Sudan? Despite the AU’s indignation, the answer to this question is far from clear-cut.

Heglig sits close to the middle of the 1,800km border between the two countries, but key parts of the border have not yet been demarcated and there are insufficient historical records (because of widespread population displacement during the development of oil installations) or living memories to easily identify the path of the 1956 line.

Heglig lies between Abyei, another disputed area, and the Nuba Mountains of Sudan’s South Kordofan State, where, since June 2011, government forces have been battling insurgents (SPLA-N) with links to the former rebels now in power in Juba.

Heglig is also close to the border town of Jau, which was captured in late February by the SPLA-N.

During the negotiations that led to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) it was agreed that Heglig (known as Panthou by southerners, who claim it had always been in Unity State) would be included in Abyei, one of the “Three Areas” (along with South Kordofan and Blue Nile) whose north-or-south status was not fully resolved by the accord. Despite this lack of resolution, Abyei has been occupied by Sudanese troops since May 2011.

After Khartoum rejected the initial boundaries of Abyei defined up by an international commission, these were redrawn in 2009 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in a ruling hat considerably shrank the area and excluded Heglig.

Although this court made no determination on the path of the north-south border, Khartoum insisted the ruling left Heglig in its South Kordofan State, an interpretation the AU now seems to share.

South Sudan, which says it is open to negotiations on the issue, insists Heglig lies south of the border, in its Unity State.

Why is Heglig so significant?

Links can be drawn between the latest escalation and key issues that remain unresolved since the CPA was signed: border demarcation, oil-revenue sharing and the Three Areas. (Abyei residents, for example, were supposed to decide in a referendum in 2011 whether to join the south but this has yet to take place).

The latest clashes also threaten an important agreement Juba and Khartoum signed in March 2012 that would have made it easier for hundreds of thousands of southerners to remain in Sudan. Without that deal, they were supposed to regularize their status - logistically almost impossible - or leave by 8 April. South Sudan is ill-equipped to accommodate such a sudden and large influx, especially because the imminent rainy season will render most roads impassable.

Veteran Sudan analyst John Ashworth told IRIN: “I don't want to say that the CPA was flawed, because it was the best that could be hoped for at the time, but we are certainly now reaping the fruits of areas not fully addressed by the CPA.”

According to historian and Abyei expert Douglas Johnson, none of the international players involved in the CPA gave much thought to what would happen to the Three Areas in the event of secession because “they were initially entirely focused on trying to make unity appear attractive.” Once the independence writing was on the wall, “they were only concerned with ensuring that independence was peaceful.”

Mukesh Kapila, who served as UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan in 2003 and 2004 and now works for the Aegis Trust, an advocacy NGO, told IRIN: “The CPA fudged-over the legitimate complaints of the long-suffering marginalized people of Nuba, Abyei, Blue Nile, and Darfur. Unless a sincere attempt is made to solve this in a fair and just manner, violent conflict will continue to erupt here and there. Citizenship, oil, and border demarcation may complicate the picture but they are, in significant part, proxies for the grievances of the much abused people of Sudan's borderlands which have to be tackled first if there is to be any peace and stability for the two countries."

pm/am/cb

Protesters injured during General Strike in Barcelona


photos: Jesus G. Pastor

(BMLTV) Barcelona, Spain, March 29, 2012 - Protester is seen in these images being taken away after being shot in the eye with a rubber bullet by police. It has been reported that there has been several other person. injured as well. One of the protesters, 35-year-old automobile salesman Jose Luis Rodriguez, said he had chosen to lose a day's pay to defend his rights by striking for the first time in his life.Protesters strike to what they believe is[ unfair Labor Laws].

Israel isn’t going to attack Iran and neither will the United States

February 1, 2012 - The radio superhero The Shadow had the power to “cloud men’s minds.” But nothing clouds men’s minds like anything that has to do with Jews or Israel. This year’s variation on that theme is the idea that Israel is about to attack Iran. Such a claim repeatedly appears in the media. Some have criticized Israel for attacking Iran and turning the Middle East into a cauldron of turmoil (not as if the region needs any help in that department) despite the fact that it hasn’t even happened.

On the surface, of course, there is apparent evidence for such a thesis. Israel has talked about attacking Iran and one can make a case for such an operation. Yet any serious consideration of this scenario — based on actual research and real analysis rather than what the uninformed assemble in their own heads or Israeli leaders sending a message to create a situation where an attack isn’t necessary — is this: It isn’t going to happen.

Indeed, the main leak from the Israeli government, by an ex-intelligence official who hates Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been that the Israeli government already decided not to attack Iran. He says that he worries this might change in the future but there’s no hint that this has happened or will happen. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has publicly denied plans for an imminent attack as have other senior government officials.

Of course, one might joke that the fact that Israeli leaders talk about attacking Iran is the biggest proof that they aren’t about to do it. But Israel, like other countries, should be subject to rational analysis. Articles written by others are being spun as saying Israel is going to attack when that’s not what they are saying. I stand by my analysis and before December 31 we will see who was right. I’m not at all worried about stating very clearly that Israel is not going to go to war with Iran.

So why are Israelis talking about a potential attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities? Because that’s a good way – indeed, the only way Israel has — to pressure Western countries to work harder on the issue, to increase sanctions and diplomatic efforts. If one believes that somehow pushing Tehran into slowing down or stopping its nuclear weapons drive is the only alternative to war, that greatly concentrates policymakers’ minds. Personally, I don’t participate — consciously or as an instrument — in disinformation campaigns, even if they are for a good cause.

Regarding Ronen Bergman’s article in the New York Times, I think the answer is simple: Israeli leaders are not announcing that they are about to attack Iran. They are sending a message that the United States and Europe should act more decisively so that Israel does not feel the need to attack Iran in the future. That is a debate that can be held but it does not deal with a different issue: Is Israel about to attack Iran? The answer is “no.”

Why should Israel attack Iran now? Because one day Iran will have nuclear weapons that might be used to attack Israel.

Does Iran have such deliverable weapons now? No.

If Israel attacks Iran now, does that mean Iran would never get nuclear weapons? No, it would merely postpone that outcome for at most a year or two more than it would take otherwise. And then it would ensure an all-out, endless bloody war thereafter.

If Israel attacks Iranian nuclear installations, would that ensure future peace between the two countries? Would it make it less likely that the Tehran regime uses such weapons to strike at Israel in the future? No. On the contrary, it would have the exact opposite effect. Again, it would ensure direct warfare between the two countries and make Iran’s use of nuclear weapons against Israel 100 percent probable.

Why is this different from Israeli attacks on Iraqi and Syrian nuclear facilities? Because in those cases a single strike by a small number of planes would be sufficient to destroy a single building. And the two regimes, precisely because of the strategic situation, would and could not respond. And if you believe Iran’s regime to be so totally irrational, then factor that point into how it would respond to a direct attack like that.

If Israel attacks Iran, would it have backing from anyone else in the world? No, in fact the United States strongly opposes such an operation. Iranian retaliation against oil shipping and terrorist attacks would lead (not overly brave and already appeasement-oriented) Western governments to blame Israel, not Iran. Launching such an attack would ensure a level of international isolation for Israel far higher than what exists today. The idea that a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq makes an Israeli attack more attractive is absurd. U.S. forces and interests are in the Gulf and an Israeli attack would — according to the Obama administration — endanger U.S. interests there.

Would such an attack by Israel be likely to succeed even in doing maximum damage to Iranian facilities? No, a great deal could go wrong, especially against multiple hardened targets at the planes’ maximum range. Planes could get lost or crash or have to turn back. Planes arriving over the targets could miss, or accidentally drop their bombs on civilians, or simply not do much damage. Many targets would remain unscathed.

Additional waves of attack would be needed in a situation where Iran would be better prepared to shoot down the planes. And the second wave would face huge Western opposition. But it would be too late either way since Israel would now be in a full war with Iran.

So given all of these factors, why should Israel possibly attack Iran? It is an absurd idea.

The counter-argument is this: Iran’s regime is irrational and wants to destroy Israel even if the resulting counterattack would kill millions of Iranians and wreck the country. Yet while that analysis should not be totally ruled out, it is far from a certainty. Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons to make itself invulnerable to the costs of its non-nuclear subversion and support for terrorist and revolutionary forces. And a lot of what the Iranian leadership says is demagoguery to build support for itself at home, and to convince the masses to ignore its incompetence and mismanagement.

Moreover, while you may have met Iranians whose grasp of reality is — let me put this politely — somewhat creative and even though the Iran regime evinces an extremist anti-Western, anti-American, and antisemitic ideology, the actual history of Iran (or more narrowly of the Iranian regime) does not show it to be an irrational actor. In other words, Iran tries to implement highly radical, nasty, and terrorist-supporting actions in a careful and cautious manner. Islamist Iran did not invade any of its neighbors and it has not taken big foreign policy risks. In saying this, I’m not being naive or ignoring what Iran’s leaders say or want but focusing on what they actually do.

Why does Iran want nuclear weapons? So it can go on sponsoring terrorism, spreading radical ideology, killing Americans through covert actions, and building a sphere of influence without anyone doing anything about it. In other words, the real threat is Iran’s conventional foreign policy safeguarded by nuclear weapons. Are there precedents for this? Sure. More recently, Pakistan and North Korea; going back further in time, the Stalinist USSR.

Yet given the points made above, even the Iran-as-irrational analysis — and even assuming it to be correct, the probability of being right about Iran ever trying to launch a nuclear attack is far lower than 100 percent — does not justify an Israeli attack at this time.

And, finally, Israel has other options. The alternative is this: As the Iranian regime works hard to get nuclear weapons and missiles capable of carrying them, Israel uses the time to build a multi-level defensive and offensive capability. These layers include:

U.S. early warning stations and anti-missile missile installations in the Gulf; Israeli missile-launching submarines; Israeli long-range planes whose crews have rehearsed and planned for strikes at Iranian facilities; different types of anti-missile missiles capable of knocking down the small number of missiles Iran could fire simultaneously; covert operations, possibly including computer viruses and assassinations, to slow down Iran’s development of nuclear weapons; improved intelligence; help to the Iranian opposition (though the idea of “regime change” in the near future is a fantasy); and other measures.

If and when there was a clear Iranian threat to attack Israel, then Israel could launch a preemptive assault. And if no such threat ever materializes, Israel need never attack. Any future Iran-Israel war will happen if Iran’s regime makes it unavoidable, not in theory but in actual practice.

Note that attacking a limited number of missiles and launch facilities, that must be located closer to Israel within Iranian territory, is easy. Attacking multiple nuclear facilities buried deep in the ground anywhere in Iran is hard.

Ah, but what if Iran gives small nuclear devices to terrorists? Well ask yourself two simple questions:

1. Would an Israeli attack on Iran ensure that this didn’t happen? Answer: Not at all.

2. Would an Israeli attack on Iran ensure that Iran would definitely give nuclear devices to terrorists and try to strike against Israel as quickly and as frequently as possible? Absolutely yes.

Does an Israeli strategy of not launching an attack assume that Iran’s regime is “rational” and “peace-loving” and will be deterred by Israel’s ability to strike back? Absolutely not. Indeed, quite the opposite. No such assumption is required. Israel will simply be ready and alert based on the assumption that Iran might attack some day. But such a war, however possible, is not inevitable. And since Israel cannot prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons by attacking, there is no point in doing so.

Whether you hope for or fear an Israeli attack on Iran, it isn’t going to happen.

At the same time, a new theme in the America mass media is that the United States is headed toward war with Iran either by electing a Republican president, the inevitable weight of events, or through having sanctions so effective that a cornered Iran will attack. The fact is that neither country wants to have an armed conflict and such a battle is easily avoidable. Ironically, those who claim Iran is going to attack are using the crazy Tehran regime concept that they reject when it comes to nuclear weapons. And the “watch out for the warmongering Republicans” slogan is part of the election campaign.

Warning against tough sanctions is a way of avoiding tough sanctions. The argument boils down to saying that sanctions better not hurt Iran or else the consequences will be disastrous. We will be hearing the same argument soon about Hamas, Hizballah, Egypt, and maybe even Libya or Turkey. The effort to use U.S. leverage will be presented as triggering war or an anti-American explosion among Muslims. Thus, for example, whatever the Egyptian regime does toward Israel or its own people, we will be told that reducing U.S. aid is not an option.

Going to war with Iran is a mistake and the hysteria on this issue, including claims the regime is about to fall, that it can easily be brought down, or that an Iranian nuclear attack on others is inevitable, should be reined in. That’s precisely why sanctions and other measures should be applied to the fullest extent possible.

And there isn’t going to be any war unless Iran’s regime tries to use nuclear weapons or makes a big mistake. It could, as Egypt did in 1967 or Saddam Hussein did in the late 1990s, rattle “nuclear sabers” enough to convince Israel that an attack is imminent. Even if it did not intend to attack, Tehran might push too hard and trigger an Israeli attack. By the same token, some Iranian attack on Western forces or on oil traffic in the Gulf — more likely triggered by a local commander without regime permission — could produce a slide into war with the United States.

But here’s what’s most likely going to happen: Iran will get nuclear weapons. Iran is not going to stop its nuclear drive (though it could stop short of actually building bombs or warheads ready to go). Western policies are not so bold or adventurous as to go to war; Israel’s interests and capabilities do not make attacking sensible. An attack would not solve but increase problems.

And no matter how crazy you think Iran’s regime is, the inescapable predicable threat is not high enough to force policymakers to risk getting hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people killed, when the chance of avoiding such an outcome is very high. I am not talking here about Hizballah firing a few rockets (Hamas might well do nothing) but a long term war that would guarantee the use of Iranian nuclear weapons.

PS: One reader has asked and others are no doubt thinking: But don’t you have to stop the possibility of an Iranian nuclear weapon being handed to terrorists against Israel or some how against the United States? Let’s be clear: An attack on Iranian facilities will not prevent this from happening and indeed will make such an event more likely than it would be otherwise. You can think up any scenario you want but if there is a war going on the Tehran regime or various parts of it has a much greater incentive to order or allow nuclear weapons to be used when it obtains them within a year or two of the initial attack.

Update: A number of sources are now saying that Iran’s retaliation to an attack should not be exaggerated. I agree that Iran can and will do little in the immediate aftermath. At most, Hizballah will fire rockets. The problem is the long-term effect, the opening of an Iran-Israel war that will go on for many years. In addition, the idea of Israel bombing Iran to prevent it from getting nuclear weapons should take into account that…the attack will not stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. What’s the point of an attack that doesn’t achieve its stated goal?

by: barry rubin





 UNAMID peacekeepers killed in West Darfur

June 21, 2010 – The African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur vowed today that it would not be intimidated from carrying out its work after three blue helmets were killed and a fourth was seriously wounded in an ambush in a remote part of the war-wracked Sudanese region.

The mission, known as UNAMID, reported that more than 20 assailants opened fire without warning on the Rwandan soldiers as they provided security to civilian engineers working near the West Darfur village of Nertiti about 11:30 a.m.

Today’s attack occurred little more than a month after two peacekeepers were slain while conducting a routine patrol in South Darfur, and takes the number of UNAMID peacekeepers who have been murdered in Darfur since the mission began operations in January 2008 to 27.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon led UN officials in deploring the attack, saying in a statement issued by his spokesperson that the Sudanese Government must make every effort to apprehend the assailants.

“The Secretary-General expresses his condolences to the families of the peacekeepers who lost their lives and to the Government of Rwanda and reiterates his appreciation for their service and commitment to the search for peace in Darfur,” the statement added.

UNAMID reported that the peacekeepers returned fire against the unknown gunmen, who wore camouflage clothing. In the ensuing firefight, which lasted almost an hour, three assailants were killed and the remainder fled the scene, stealing a vehicle.

The wounded peacekeeper was taken to the mission’s hospital in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, and is listed as being in a critical condition.

Mohamed B. Yonis, Deputy Joint Special Representative for UNAMID, voiced outrage at the attack and praised the peacekeepers for their courage. He said the mission would not be deterred from its work.

“Our mission will continue to carry out its mandate, which is to bring peace and security to the people of Darfur,” Mr. Yonis said.

Nertiti is a village located in the remote and mountainous region of Jebel Marra, which straddles the three Darfur states. The civilian engineers had been working at a UNAMID team site near the village at the time of today’s attack.

Some 300,000 people are estimated to have been killed and another 2.7 million others displaced from their homes since fighting erupted in Darfur, an arid region on Sudan’s western flank, in 2003. Government forces, allied Janjaweed militiamen and rebel groups have all been accused of grave human rights violations.

caption: satellite image of Sudan