You are here: Home / Archives for Politics

World Forgetting Palestinian Rights

October 8, 2012 by

Global Analyst Online / IPS

Pierre Klochendler

JERUSALEM, Oct 07 (IPS) – The annual debate has just wrapped up and, already, the certainty is that if last year Palestinian statehood auspiciously dominated the international agenda, this time, the issue vanished from the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and will vanish even further from world affairs.When Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas looked down on the General Assembly plenum a fortnight ago, though the hall was packed, he probably felt lonely. He knew his would be the sole address devoted to the cause of an independent Palestinian state in peace alongside Israel.

For the umpteenth time, Abbas depicted how Israel’s settlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian territories renders year by year a two-state solution to the conflict more unattainable – to no avail.

His speech was similar in essence to the one he’d delivered exactly one year ago at the same place – except that this time, his bid was limited to gaining non-member state status, not full statehood recognition at the U.N. Security Council.

Abbas’s statehood bid was shelved as soon as it was introduced. The U.S. and its Western allies had pressed the Security Council and the General Assembly not to proceed with the largely symbolic vote.

Then, prodded by the U.S., the reason advanced by the Security Council powers was that peace moves with Israel, not a unilateral move, had to be given another chance. As consolation price, a month later, Palestine gained UNESCO membership.

A year on, what Abbas drew from the General Assembly was the kind of almost casually apologetic words of recognition and appraisal that the Palestinian issue garners at every global forum.

The General Assembly was the first and leading power supporting a two-state solution. In November 1947, it voted the Partition Plan between a Jewish state and an Arab state in Mandatory Palestine.

But ever since the historic General Assembly vote, quasi-universal, though insipid, pledges and rubberstamp commitments to Palestinian statehood have been dutifully distilled by UN member states.

In his address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu simply ignored his predecessor.

Surely, he submitted to the ritual. “We have to (…) negotiate together, and reach a mutual compromise,” he urged emphatically.

But he allocated two minutes of his speech to the Palestinian question at best, demonstrating thereby (if anyone needed such demonstration) that literally, wording an ironclad resolution on the future of Palestine will remain punctuated by a big question mark.

Netanyahu had heard U.S. President Barack Obama’s address. Albeit the usual hymn – or was it a eulogy? – to the bygone dream of a negotiated two-state solution which was wrapped in a single paragraph, Obama didn’t conceal the fact that, right now, diplomacy is urgently needed – but not between Israel and Abbas’ Palestinian Authority.

So, Netanyahu dedicated his address to calling for a “red line” on Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme – this, in order to “prevent war”.

With noises of war against Iran permeating the General Assembly debates (though Obama had earlier pledged “to block out any noise that’s out there”), no wonder that the only recipe to the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate consisted of rueful expressions of solidarity with the Palestinians’ predicament.

There were times, not that long ago, when the Israel-Palestine conflict was the centre of gravity in international affairs.

Last winter, three rounds of exploratory talks in Amman in Jordan, between Israeli and Palestinian delegates failed to bring any result.

Palestine has sunk into oblivion, orbiting around an Israeli-imposed sphere of “conflict management” rather than gravitating toward U.S.-led “conflict resolution”. A “low-intensity conflict”, it’s therefore been relegated to the backburner of world concerns.

The dubious ‘Headline News’ mantra, “when it bleeds, it leads”, has diverted public attention from the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Far more blood is spilled in other fracture lines of the area – between Shias and Sunnis, between liberals and Islamists, between Arab dictatorships and their pro-democracy citizenry, between Jihadist and all the mentioned-above parties.

The truth is, if one compares it with the upheavals convoluting the Arab Muslim world – in Syria notably, but also elsewhere in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region – the Israel-Palestine conflict doesn’t appear that malignant.

And, far more blood would be spilled were Iran’s nuclear programme be tackled belligerently.

And yet, without renewed focus on the Israel-Palestine conflict, the U.S. and its Western allies (including Israel) will have a hard time convincing Arab leaders, Russia and China – themselves extremely perturbed by Iran’s nuclear programme – that a unified and more muscular approach must be adopted.

Were it to prod Israelis and Palestinians to re-engage in negotiations, the U.S. could perhaps sway public opinion, absorbed by a deep pro-Palestinian sentiment from the anti-U.S. feelings of humiliation pervading many Arab countries, as last month’s violent assaults on U.S. legations in Libya and Egypt again exposed.

That, in turn, could persuade Arab allies, as well as Russia and China, to adhere to increased pressure on Iran. But such U.S. endeavour will have to wait for a new president.

Moreover, Netanyahu’s “red line” argument would probably be more convincing were he to draw a line on his own policies in the occupied Palestinian territories, policies which traditionally elicit worldwide censure.

But why would he, for instance, be prodded to introduce a moratorium on settlement construction similar to the 10-month freeze he reluctantly agreed to impose in 2010?

After all, didn’t he implicitly agree at the U.N. that until next year’s spring or summer, Israel would allow diplomacy and sanctions to run their course. Netanyahu predicted that only by then Tehran would complete the threshold stage of its uranium enrichment.

Besides, he might be inclined to call for Israeli elections in February.

Red lines, deadlines, are like all lines: politicians like Netanyahu are seasoned enough in the art of ‘tight-roping’ a thin line. His is between war with Iran and peace with Palestine. He could still walk both. But as long as Iran’s and Syria’s leaders walk their own fine line, why should he? And so, the Israel-Palestine conflict will remain on the sidelines, in limbo.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Commentary, Mideast, Politics, Rights Tagged With:

Shadow Fighting Erupts over Gaddafi

October 8, 2012 by

Global Analyst Online / IPS

Mel Frykberg

CAIRO, Oct 06 (IPS) – Civilians in the town of Bani Walid, 170 km south-east of Tripoli, are facing a humanitarian crisis as Libyan security forces lay siege to the stronghold of Muammar Gaddafi supporters, cutting off water, food and medical supplies.Local doctors told Amnesty International that on Oct. 4, three vehicles carrying medical supplies, oxygen, and medical personnel were prevented from reaching the city by a group of armed men, who set up a checkpoint on the main road from capital Tripoli.

Residents said that vehicles carrying petrol, water and food supplies from the capital had also been turned back at the same checkpoint in the previous four days.

“These people have given Libya a lot of problems and the town has been infiltrated by foreign elements, but this will come to an end soon when our men move in,” Khaled Hamsha, a member of the Supreme Security Committee (SSC), an amalgamation of Libyan security forces and militias, told IPS.

The military build-up follows the death of Omran Shabaan, a militia member from Misrata town 150km east of Tripoli, who helped capture Gaddafi last year in October. Shabaan died in a Paris hospital some weeks ago shortly after his release after being captured by Gaddafi loyalists in Bani Walid in July.

His death was allegedly the result of torture and a gunshot wound he sustained during his capture. He was detained when he and several collegues were sent to Bani Walid to help secure the release of some Misratan journalists who had also been captured by Gaddafi supporters.

There is concern now over excesses on the part of militia men. “It is worrying that what essentially should be a law enforcement operation to arrest suspects looks increasingly like a siege of a city and a military operation,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“Libyan authorities should ensure that maximum restraint is exercised in any use of force, which should be proportionate to the purported objective of arresting suspects. Movement to and from Bani Walid should not be arbitrarily constrained, and in particular all medical and other essential

supplies should be allowed to reach the city without any impediments,” Sahraoui added.

The bad blood between Misrata and Bani Walid goes back to the revolution when people from the two towns fought on different sides. Misratans fought to overthrow Gaddafi’s regime and fought against Bani Walid loyalists to Gaddafi.

Following the kidnapping of a number of Misratans in Bani Walid, which Bani Walid loyalists say is in retaliation for the abduction of hundreds of men from their town, a number of bloody confrontations between the two cities were narrowly averted at the last minute following high-level government intervention.

But following Shabaan’s death, Libya’s President of the General National Congress (GNC) Muhammad Magarief vowed that those responsible for the Misratan revolutionary’s death would be captured and brought to justice. He added that if Bani Walid officials failed to hand the men responsible over, military force would be employed against the town.

More than a thousand soldiers from revolutionary brigades from across Libya, heavily supported by Misratan brigades, have joined the National Army at four camps surrounding the Gaddafi stronghold with commanders preparing for a military assault. Residents of the besieged city are begging for international intervention.

A petition was circulated around the city last week asking the U.N. Security Council to convene an emergency meeting and intervene immediately to protect the civilians in the town.

According to The Libya Herald the petitioners claimed that pro-government armed militias were trying to indiscriminately kill large numbers of people in Bani Walid, because of the city’s history in support of Gaddafi. They reported bombing on civilian neighbourhoods on Oct. 1 with no regard to the lives of unarmed civilians.

However, many in Bani Walid remain defiant and have warned that they would fight to the last man. Last Friday large numbers of protestors rallied against the Libyan government’s demands that the men responsible for Shabaan’s death be handed over. They also called for the release of hundreds of Bani Walid residents held without trial in detention centres in Misrata.

Amnesty International says many continue to be detained without being charged or put on trial across Libya, and have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated.

The International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS) says Libya holds the highest number of prisoners held without trial in the world at nearly 89 percent. Foreign prisoners, many of them from sub-Saharan Africa, account for nearly 15 percent of Libya’s prison population, and women for just over 2 percent.

Nasseer Al Hammary, a researcher with the Libyan Observatory for Human Rights said that the human rights situation in Libya now was far worse than under Gaddafi.

“The abuse and mistreatment of prisoners in detention centres around the country, many of them run by militias, is an ongoing problem. At a conservative guess, more than twenty people, have died from abuse since the end of the revolution with many others tortured and beaten,”Al Hammary told IPS.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Mideast, News, Politics, Security Tagged With: , ,

As Conflict Spreads, Syrian Opposition Preps for the Future

October 5, 2012 by

Global Analyst Online / IPS

Samer Araabi

WASHINGTON, Oct 05 (IPS) – As the uprising in Syria becomes violently entangled with its neighbours, the expatriate opposition leadership is already formulating plans for a political transition following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.On Thursday, the United States Institute of Peace hosted an event entitled "Syria After Assad: Managing the Challenges of Transition", at which panellists from USIP’s The Day After Project presented their transitional framework for a post-Assad Syria.

The panellists insisted that The Day After Project: Supporting a Democratic Transition in Syria is an "evolving, growing document" that is meant to provide guiding principles instead of concrete policy recommendations. The report covers a wide range of transitional issues including the rule of law, transitional justice, security sector reform, Constitutional design, economic and social reconstruction, and electoral reform.

The Day After Project is comprised of 45 members of the Syrian opposition, drawn from the ranks of the Syrian National Council (SNC), the Local Coordination Committees, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and other independent and unaffiliated groups. It includes several individuals who have become well known in Washington circles, such as Murhaf Jouejati, Najib Ghadbian, Radwan Ziadeh and Rami Nakhla, but only a few of the opposition leaders in Syria itself.

In an attempt to foster consensus across varied political perspectives and avoid policy decisions that fall within the jurisdiction of future governments, the report avoids specific policy prescriptions. Instead, it recommends objectives such as "judicial independence", "respect for the…diversity of Syrian society", and "measures to facilitate macroeconomic stability" without addressing the formal structures or ideologies underpinning these principles.

Nevertheless, the authors of the report have incorporated a number of lessons from recent political transitions in the region. They stressed the importance of civilian authority over the army and the necessity of maintaining existing government structures without engaging in a process of "de-Baathifcation", a lesson learned from neighbouring Iraq.

Assured that the demise of the Assad regime is forthcoming (panellists’ estimates of the regime’s lifespan ranged from a few months to one year), the report’s authors have launched a communications campaign to bring the findings of the report to activists working inside Syria, seeking endorsements from local groups to supplement the international recognition that the project has received.

But while the transitional plan has been endorsed by a number of international bodies and has received the official backing of the SNC and the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, it remains largely unfamiliar to many Syrians on the ground.

The Conflict Expands

Despite their optimism for the distant future, the panellists were forced to admit that the "incremental gains the opposition made in the summer have slowed" and that the momentum of the early strikes in Aleppo and Damascus have turned into a prolonged and bloody stalemate.

Recent reports claim that the rate of Syrian army defections have "slowed to a trickle", and at least one high-level Free Syrian Army figure appears to have defected back to the regime.

The stalemate has not prevented the violence from expanding beyond Syria’s borders. Turkish armed forces attacked several Syrian government positions on Wednesday after Syrian artillery troops shelled a Turkish town, events that led to further deterioration in relations between the two countries.

Although Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that he has no intention of allowing the conflict to escalate any further, thousands have been protesting in the streets of Ankara and Istanbul to decry the ruling AK Party’s "ugly provocation of war" with Syria.

The conflict is also drawing other disparate groups from both sides into its orbit. After the death of a prominent member of Hizballah in Syria, some analysts are predicting a "more explicit backing for Assad" that may tie the Lebanese organisation more closely to the regime.

Within the ranks of the opposition, questions have been raised about the growing number of opposition members with ties to right wing or Zionist organisations, including the affiliation of The Day After Project’s Rami Nakhla with CyberDissidents, a group funded by Sheldon Adelson’s Jerusalem-based Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies.

Envoys from both sides are also busily attempting to win new allies and legitimacy; a letter to Pope Benedict XVI from prominent opposition activist Michel Kilo requests a visit from the Pope to allay fears from Syria’s Christians that the uprising has taken a sectarian focus.

War Rages On

Meanwhile, dozens of Syrians were killed in a series of Al Qaeda-style suicide blasts in the Syrian city of Aleppo, an attack claimed by the extremist opposition group Jabhat Al-Nusra. The government has responded with mortar attacks, aerial strafing and sniper fire, reducing much of the ancient city to rubble.

Fighting in Damascus itself has ebbed significantly since the summer, although the rights organisation Human Rights Watch issued a statement today condemning the government’s abduction of prominent human rights lawyer Khalil Maatouk, who has defended Syrian activists in government courts.

"Maatouk’s apparent arbitrary and incommunicado detention would violate basic principles of international human rights law," said the statement, calling on the government to "immediately release him if he is in its custody".

The abduction has led to renewed calls from Egypt, the European Union and human rights organisations for Syria to release its thousands of jailed political prisoners. The intransigent response from Damascus will likely raise more calls for Assad’s departure at all costs.

As Syria continues to unravel and infrastructural and humanitarian responses become more critical, a plan for Syria’s future seems more important than ever. But it also casts a shadow of doubt over the viability of an abstract draft plan to rebuild Syria that sidesteps many of the same issues that have torn the country apart.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Featured, Mideast, Politics, Security Tagged With: , ,

Media Pluralism at Risk of Extinction in Chile

October 5, 2012 by

Global Analyst Online / IPS

Marianela Jarroud

SANTIAGO, Oct 04 (IPS) – The announcement that the La Nación newspaper of Chile is closing down has drawn the attention of journalists, analysts and opposition lawmakers to the heavy concentration of press ownership, now in the hands of only two business groups, and to the lack of regulations to ensure media pluralism."The state must create public media in areas (press, radio or television) where there is a high concentration of ownership," said Marcelo Castillo, head of the Chilean Association of Journalists.

Furthermore, "public communication policies are needed that go beyond the mere existence of media," he said.

At present, the only state electronic media outlet is National Television of Chile, an autonomous company with a seven-member board nominated by the president and ratified by the Senate.

Castillo told IPS that "the creation of media outlets linked to civil society must be encouraged, or the example of Argentina should be followed, where an agency to manage state advertising ensures that it is widely distributed among a large number of outlets."

The closure of the century-old La Nación, in which the state owned a 69 percent share, was decided by board members representing the right-wing government of President Sebastián Piñera, who had announced he would make this decision if he were elected president.

Late last year, La Nación’s print version was cancelled, and on Sept. 24 it was agreed that the online version, which receives one million hits, will be terminated. In addition to its impact on communications, the decision means 600 workers will left without a job.

"For 20 years, since the return to democracy, La Nación has always been subordinated to the government of the day, and we believe this is not advisable and that the authorities do not need their own media," said government spokesman Andrés Chadwick.

Carlos Larraín, president of the National Renewal party, a member of the governing coalition, called the closure "very good news" and said that for the sake of journalism, it was good to end state competition against the free press.

"A subsidised press is worthless," he said.

In Castillo’s view, however, "the state must guarantee the citizens’ right to information, and ensure media pluralism, and if this does not exist, create it and find a formula for making it effective."

Figures from the National Press Association, the print media owners’ group, indicate that two companies concentrate 90 percent of Chilean readers. They are El Mercurio and the Consorcio Periodístico de Chile SA, which controls the newspapers La Tercera and La Cuarta and the magazine Qué Pasa, among other print and online media.

Both firms are in the hands of the richest and most influential families in the country, who keep the right-wing ideology alive in the press.

But Castillo pointed out that although Piñera had decreed the closing of La Nación, the previous governments of the centre-left Coalition for Democracy had failed to promote a public policy for the media.

"During the last three years of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) there was more pluralism in the press than there is now," he said.

"For instance, there is not a single opposition daily newspaper in Chile at present. Having a public policy for communications is not only the responsibility of the Piñera government, but of administrations from the end of the dictatorship onwards," he said.

Examples of newspapers that have fallen by the wayside include Fortín Mapocho, a daily that played a key role in the fight against the dictatorship, which went under in 1991, and the progressive newspaper La Época, which was published from 1987 to 1998.

And weeklies like Análisis and Apsi, which closed in 1994 and 1995 respectively, were emblematic opponents of the dictatorship, but did not survive the return to democracy.

In the view of sociologist Manuel Antonio Garretón, winner of the National Prize for Humanities and Social Sciences in 2007, the closure of La Nación shows "an ideological intent to dismantle public spaces like education, social security and now communication.

"In the case of La Nación, the state has given up a potential public space which, since the market is not plural, it should guarantee," he told IPS.

"My understanding is that when the market cannot offer, as in this case, press pluralism, the state itself ought to offer it, to offset the ideologically right-wing private media," he said.

"The state should promote and permit the creation of media outlets with views different to those of the predominant media," he said.

In Garretón’s view, the dismantling began when the Chilean National Radio station was privatised in 1993, representing the loss of a major public awareness-raising instrument.

"All forms of state provision that are participative in character, as they should be, are being eliminated," he said.

"The clearest example is education, but there are other fields like public television,” he said.

Meanwhile, socialist Senator Juan Pablo Letelier told IPS that "economic groups in Chile, in contrast to Brazil and other countries, are too closely allied to the political right, resulting in the media being in too few hands and having a strong ideological bias."

He said the concentration of ownership "generates ideas and visions of a nation derived from a lack of real press freedom.

"The problem is that the structure of advertising in our country has not been democratised. It is not that legislation has not been tried, but that the right does not want to democratise advertising in the media," said the lawmaker.

The state’s role is "not to subsidise, but to ensure a regulatory framework so that companies must place their advertising in a diversity of media outlets," he said.

"Democracy is not only about voting and electing, but also about economic democracy and circulating a diversity of opinions," he argued.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Americas, Politics, Report, Rights Tagged With: , ,

To Press for Peace in Kivus, Donors Should Hold Aid, Report Says

October 5, 2012 by

Global Analyst Online / IPS

Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON, Oct 05 (IPS) – Major donors to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) should withhold aid to both governments until they comply with prior agreements to pacify the DRC’s mineral-rich Kivu provinces, states a new report released Thursday by the International Crisis Group.The report, "Eastern Congo: Why Stabilisation Failed", argues that deploying a 4,000-strong neutral force along the border between the two countries – the solution promoted by the 12-state International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) – is unrealistic and unlikely to be effective.

"The Kivus do not need a new strategic approach; rather the peace agreements and stabilizing plans should no longer be empty promises," says the report, which was written in French. "This requires co-ordinated and unequivocal pressure from the donors that pay the bills or the Rwandan and Congolese regimes."

The report comes amidst continuing violence by a number of militias active in the Kivus, most notably the March 23 (M-23) Movement led by Bosco Ntaganda, a warlord in the eastern DRC who was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague in 2006 for recruiting and deploying child soldiers earlier in the decade.

Despite his indictment, Ntaganda was inducted into the Congolese army as part of an effort to stabilise the eastern part of the country. In 2009 he was promoted to the rank of general.

Last April, however, after DRC President Joseph Kabila, under pressure from western donors, ordered his arrest, the Rwandan-born Ntanganda staged a mutiny which many analysts believe was instigated and supported by Rwanda.

Since then, the two countries have exchanged a war of words, and violence has intensified across the region. Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting and nearly 500,000 people are believed to have fled their homes.

At the end of June, the United Nations Security Council released a report that detailed Rwandan support for the mutiny and M-23 Movement. It alleged that Kigali recruited and deployed Rwandans to join Ntaganda’s forces and transmitted key intelligence to the rebels.

Kigali has vehemently rejected allegations that it supports M-23, whose name refers to a 2009 peace agreement between the Kinshasa and the Rwanda-backed National Council for the Defence of the People.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, a longtime favourite of the United States, who, according to various accounts, sought to delay the report’s release, has insisted that the mutiny was caused by Kinshasa’s failure to pay Ntaganda’s troops and that it had nothing to do with the rebels.

"I’ve never seen such a stupid story like that," Kagame told TIME magazine in an interview in September. "They wanted Rwanda always to be seen as the culprit in the problems of Congo. Congo is a victim, always.…It doesn’t need a rational story, it doesn’t need facts or logic. It’s just how they want it."

The Kivus have been in turmoil since the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda against members of the Tutsi ethnic group. As Kagame’s Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriot Front (RPF) swept across the country, tens of thousands of Hutus, including army officers and militias that carried out the genocide, fled into eastern DRC, where their remnants have remained active.

More than five million people are believed to have died, most from starvation and disease, as a result of the fighting among some two dozen militias and the military intervention of eight of the DRC’s neighbours, including Rwanda, according to an International Rescue Committee study published in 2008.

The region is rich in minerals, including tin ore, gold, diamonds and tantalum, a rare metal used in cell phones and computer parts. Much of the fighting, including by M-23, has been for control over areas where these resources are mined.

At the urging of human rights and peace activists, the U.S. Congress last year passed legislation that requires U.S. companies to put forth their best efforts to avoid acquiring these minerals from the DRC. Although the move has apparently marginally reduced demand, Asian companies have reportedly moved to fill the vacuum.

In a report published last month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused M-23 of committing war crimes, including summary executions, rape and forced recruitment of children. The New York-based group also charged that Rwanda has deployed military units in DRC to support M-23 and thus may also be liable for the crimes committed by the movement.

Yet Rwanda has pointed to atrocities committed in eastern Congo by Mai-Mai militias, particularly against the Banyamulenge, an ethnic group related to the Tutsis and mainly descended from Rwandan immigrants. Indeed, Thursday marked the anniversary of a notorious massacre in South Kivu of seven Banyamulenge humanitarian workers, which renewed a low-intensity conflict in the area. The Congolese government has not arrested the perpetrators.

The United States and members of the European Union (EU) have cut or suspended aid to Rwanda, where external assistance comprises 40 percent of its budget, to compel it to drop its support for M-23, although rights groups and others are calling for even more pressure.

Last week, the Enough Project, a Washington-based anti-genocide group, released a report arguing for the United States and other donors to base approval World Bank support to Rwanda – 135 million dollars are pending – on Rwanda’s cutting support for and dismantling M-23.

"The U.S. should delay the vote on this package until these conditions are met," said the authors, Aaron Hall and Sasha Lezhnev.

The ICG report stressed that donors should withhold aid to both governments, noting that the Mai-Mai groups were continuing to commit atrocities in rural areas with impunity.

International donors and African mediators, it said, should seek to resolve the ongoing crisis rather than merely managing it, as they have with the deployment of a 17,000-strong U.N. force whose ability to keep the peace has been severely limited given the vastness of the territory for which it is responsible.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week convened both Kabila and Kagame for a meeting at the United Nations during which she "emphasised the need for honest and sustained dialogue between both countries in pursuit of a political resolution to the crisis", said a senior State Department official.

"She noted that any solution must include bringing M-23 leadership to justice and both countries committing to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the other," the official added. No breakthrough was achieved, however, at the ICGLR meeting that took place the next day.

To move toward a resolution, the ICG called for the urgent negotiation of a ceasefire between the Congolese authorities and M-23 as well as for the consideration of an arms embargo against Rwanda.

Aid to Kigali should also remain suspended pending the release of a new report by the U.N. Group of experts, the group added, while donors should withhold funding for stabilisation and institutional support for Kinshasa as long as it fails to improve political dialogue, governance, and its army’s performance in the eastern part of the country. Ntaganda, it said, should be arrested and handed over to the ICC.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Featured, Geopolitics, Politics Tagged With: ,

Venezuela Votes…and Latin America Catches a Cold

October 5, 2012 by

Global Analyst Online / IPS

Estrella Gutiérrez

CARACAS, Oct 04 (IPS) – Sunday’s elections in Venezuela will determine whether the era of President Hugo Chávez’s Bolivarian revolution will continue or come to an end. The result will have an impact not only on this country but on the rest of Latin America.In the first decade of this century, Latin America saw "a nontraumatic epochal change, sometimes manifested as constituent assemblies (to rewrite a constitution), which sought to respond to the demands of the majority and bring about political change. Chávez is its most radical expression," said Manuel Felipe Sierra, an analyst from the traditional left and a critic of the Venezuelan president.

"This trend, which Chávez claims to have authored although it has roots and leadership in each country, has already passed, and most governments have taken a more conventional democratic route with left-wing overtones," he told IPS.

Bolivia and Ecuador are other examples of this current, which has as its political integration mechanism the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), led by Venezuela and made up of eight Latin American and Caribbean countries, including Cuba and Nicaragua.

But the regional reform movement has another major reference point, less ideological and radical: the process led by former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2011), whose programme was based on economic growth with social inclusion and a strengthening of democracy.

Both self-described left-wing and right-wing governments have expressed their support for the Brazilian model, including Venezuela’s opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who declares himself an "admirer and imitator" of Lula.

Capriles, supported by a variegated mix of 29 groups ranging from right to left, points as proof to the Zero Hunger plan he implemented as governor of the northwestern state of Miranda, modelled on Brazil’s anti-hunger strategy.

Most of the latest polls tip Chávez as the favourite to be re-elected for a third time. But growing support for his rival has made the election result uncertain.

Chávez’s style of diplomacy in Latin America has been one of confrontation with right-wing presidents, which polarised countries, governments and summits ever since he took power in February 1999, said experts consulted by IPS, including several close to the president.

"The export of the Bolivarian model, supported by the abusive use of Venezuela’s oil wealth, as well as Chávez´s style, are in decline, whatever happens on Sunday," said Sierra.

"Furthermore, there is ‘Chávez fatigue’ in the region because of the behaviours and manners that stress even his allies, and that ceased to be useful for the collective interest," he said.

But Roy Chaderton, Venezuela’s ambassador to the Organisation of American States (OAS), said that if Chávez exits the stage, "it would threaten Latin American independence," especially from the United States, which Chávez refers to as "the empire."

Chaderton said Venezuela had created in the region "a diversity of dependences, that make us more independent of others and more interdependent among ourselves."

"In Latin America we created oxygen valves that help us breathe more freely, and that would close off" if Chávez loses, he said.

"These are not just any elections, for Venezuela or for the continent, because of the ideological primacy and polarisation promoted by Chávez, and because if he loses the elections it would confirm the demise of the left-wing neo-populist experiment he was trying to export," said Teresa Romero, an expert in international relations.

In Romero’s view, even if Chávez is re-elected, "the regional climate has shifted towards the centre," and within it "Brazil has won the leadership role, with progressive positions that are less strident and more efficient."

Michael Shifter, the head of the Inter-American Dialogue, a U.S. think tank, said if Chávez left the government it would have "an enormous effect on the regional political scenario, because he has been the most aggressive and polarising voice in the hemisphere over the last decade."

If change comes to Venezuela, "ideological conflicts will not disappear, but they will be less acute and better channeled," he told IPS. In his view, Capriles would maintain normal relations with left-wing governments like those of Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua, "but not, as the phrase went in the 1990s, such carnal relationships."

In addition to ALBA, the Chávez government promoted the foundation of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), made up of the region’s 12 countries, and the oil aid organisation Petrocaribe. It also helped create the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) as an alternative to the OAS, which it considers to be dominated by Washington.

In August the government began a process of withdrawal from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which hands down binding rulings on human rights violations committed by states. The only precedent for withdrawal from the OAS human rights court was that of Peru, 20 years ago, during the regime of Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000).

Capriles announced that, if he were elected, one of his first steps would be to reverse the process of withdrawal from the Inter-American Court. He also said Venezuela would rejoin the Andean Community, the regional bloc that this country belonged to since the 1960s, which the Chávez administration pulled out of in 2011. It is currently made up of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Chávez’s efforts in the past six years were directed towards Venezuela becoming a full member of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) trade bloc, which he finally achieved in June, after Paraguay’s temporary suspension from the group, made up also of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

"These are changes of alliances based on political and ideological foundations, not on economic reasoning or geographical location," Sierra said.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Americas, Politics, Report Tagged With:

Spanish Police Crack Down on Protesters Surrounding the Parliament

September 27, 2012 by

The Real News
September 26, 2012

Anti-austerity rage intensified in Madrid, as protesters surrounded the parliament Tuesday night in a sign of mounting frustration towards the right-wing government.

Read more on The Real News

 


Filed Under: Economy, Europe, Politics, Society, Video Tagged With: , , , , ,

Major Extractives Firms No Longer Ignoring Community Consent

September 27, 2012 by

Global Analyst Online / IPS

Carey L. Biron

WASHINGTON, Sep 27 (IPS) – New research from Oxfam, an international aid agency, finds that some of the largest multinational oil and mining companies are increasingly incorporating principles of community consent into their day-to-day operations.Oxfam’s researchers looked at 28 of the world’s largest extractives companies and combed through their publicly available commitments to addressing the issue of community rights. They used the information to come up with a ranking – the Community Consent Index – that, coupled with a similar report from 2009, can now be used as baseline data.

The report does not rate the implementation of these policies, however, and its selection does not include any companies that have not specifically and publicly set out policies or positions on community engagement. Rather, Oxfam says that the index is supposed to incite and inform dialogue going forward.

“Community consent has been a very slippery concept over the years, and having a (preliminary) framework … is a really important start,” Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America, said in unveiling the new paper here in Washington on Wednesday.

“In order for oil and mining companies to survive in the coming decades, they need to transform themselves from primarily resource extractors to development partners. Companies that fail to implement the policies will be at a competitive disadvantage.”

Over the past three decades, the turnaround in the industry’s view on community engagement – at least insofar as the top players are concerned – has indeed been striking.

It was only in the early 1980s that the World Bank began discussing environmental impact, assessment of which is now required on virtually all foreign- or donor-funded projects in the world. Recent years have also seen international covenants on the rights of indigenous peoples over their traditional lands.

“Where are we today?” Offenheiser asks. “Admittedly, controversies still exist. But now we talk about ‘host communities’ rather than ‘drilling sites’, about a ‘shared-value approach’ that assumes that there is a connection between communities and companies. These would not have been on the agenda 30 years ago.”

In that time, local communities and civil society activists have become increasingly vocal and empowered in asserting their rights. In turn, this has both led to and been backed up by a raft of new international conventions as well as policies within international financial institutions, most notably the International Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the World Bank.

In recent weeks, both the United States and the European Union have also moved forward on legislation that will vastly increase transparency regulations in the extractive industries, specifically with an eye to how those industries affect communities on the ground.

“That said, it’s important to recognise that advancing this discussion is more critical than ever – I think we’re living in a moment of urgency,” Offenheiser cautions. “Due to the current explosion in the demand for natural resources … companies are extending their reach into remote and sensitive areas. This issue has to be raised by civil society organisations, business and government in ways that it hasn’t been in the past.”

How dopey?

“Why are companies doing this, and why are investors interested in us doing this?” Chris Anderson, with the mining giant Rio Tinto, one of the companies included in the new report, asked at a panel discussion on Wednesday.

“The simple answer is we’re not going to have any business otherwise. If you don’t adequately consult with a community and they don’t want an aspect of your project, you just don’t have a project and therefore you may not have a business.”

Among upper-level management in the sector, Anderson says that the realisation that communities “can become full, proper partners in the development of these projects” has set in only within the past decade. Now, however, he says “We’ll think back in five or 10 years, on the company side, and think, ‘How dopey could we be?’”

While lauding the new report, he also warns that Oxfam’s selection of companies has “skewed” its findings.

“You’re not looking at the worst actors, and there are plenty still around,” Anderson says. “We need to raise the bar … we’ve come a long way, but we have a long way to go to operationalise the notion of consent.”

Indeed, while Oxfam’s findings highlight optimistic trends overall, even such “skewed” results show that the discussion is still in its early phase.

Of the 28 companies, Oxfam’s researchers found that two-thirds have incorporated provisions of community consent, social license or broad community support into their development activities. Thirteen have either directly or indirectly (by agreeing to comply with various international agreements) said they would operate under the directives of free and prior informed consent (commonly referred to as FPIC).

All but two of the 28 companies reference the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in their public websites and annual reports, and all but five publicly commit to the rights of indigenous people. While about half of the companies commit to minimising involuntary resettlement, fewer have actual policies on resettlement and just two have made those policies publicly available.

“It’s clear that companies are now paying attention to the impact on communities – it’s standard practice now for the vast majority to have a human rights policy,” one of the report’s authors, Marianne Voss, said at the discussion on Wednesday.

Still, she reports, some companies are using “qualifiers that weaken the weight of their commitments”. Others say they will apply the principles of free and informed consent only where local law requires it or where governments have implemented it.

Nonetheless, she and others suggest, the direction of the discussion seems to be moving in one direction.

“Raised marks indicate that international investment can play a vital role in poverty reduction and development and, if done correctly, can be a good partnership between communities and business,” she says.

“While few extractive companies currently go as far as explicitly committing to FPIC, they’re going to be under increasing pressure to adopt them in the future. The growth of the minerals sector in developing countries and the fact that they’re going into more sensitive areas is going to broaden the demand moving forward.”

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Economy, Environment, Politics, Report Tagged With: , , , , , ,

U.S.: Consumer Protection Agency Takes on "Financial Tricks and Traps"

September 27, 2012 by

Global Analyst Online / IPS

Matthew Cardinale

ATLANTA, Georgia, Sep 27 (IPS) – In the wake of the epidemic of home foreclosures, banking scandals and resulting massive financial regulation overhaul two years ago known as the Dodd-Frank legislation, the U.S. government created a new federal agency to protect consumers from being taken advantage of by banks and other institutions.

Known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), it’s operated for a year now, with mixed results, according to civil society groups that follow the issue.

“Obviously, the agency’s been stifled somewhat by Congress," Jamie Court, president of the non-profit California-based group Consumer Watchdog, told IPS. "Given the scrutiny they face, and the budget limitations, they’ve done a good job of starting to break new ground on mortgage regulations and financial services regulations, disclosure for consumers."

Republicans, particularly in the U.S. House of Representatives, have been vehemently opposed to the CFPB.

“It’s a very tough job in this political and budgetary climate. They’ve done a good job of letting the public know their doors are open. The question is, how responsive they are to petitions from the public, and how much can they do as quickly as possible?” Court said.

“They have a good staff that understands consumer protection. The real fate of the agency will be determined by the (November U.S. presidential) election. The election is really a mandate for this agency to go forward or not,” he said.

Republican nominee Mitt Romney opposes the CFPB, while President Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, supports it.

The CFPB is “pretty much what Obama got for the consumer out of financial reform, which was too little. It’s the first time we have a federal agency that’s there to protect consumer, not the bank, not the investor,” Court said.

Over the past weekend, the agency announced its second enforcement action in conjunction with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), ordering Discover Bank to refund approximately 200 million dollars to more than 3.5 million consumers and pay a 14-million-dollar civil penalty.

At issue were “deceptive telemarketing and sales tactics used by Discover to mislead consumers into paying for various credit card ‘add-on products’ – payment protection, credit score tracking, identity theft protection, and wallet protection,” according to an agency press release.

According to the CFPB, Discover Bank, one of the largest credit card issuers in the U.S., misled customers about whether there was a cost for the products, enrolled customers without their consent, and failed to tell customers about some of the eligibility requirements associated with payment protection benefits.

In a similar case of "deceptive marketing tactics", on Jul. 18, the agency announced its first enforcement action, requiring Capital One Bank to refund approximately 140 million dollars to two million customers and pay an additional 25-million-dollar civil penalty.

On Aug. 10, the agency proposed two new rules that will protect families who take out mortgages for their homes. These proposed rules are currently subject to a public comment period before final action will be taken.

The agency has also been collecting hundreds of comments from U.S. consumers regarding various complaints each week, and is encouraging consumers to submit complaints to the agency, including on its website.

“They’re being judicious in what they’re setting out to do. They’re not being a lightening rod for controversy – they’re doing sensible things on a sensible timeline. We’re very pleased by their agenda,” Linda Sherry, director of national priorities for Consumer Action, a San Francisco-based national consumer education and advocacy group, told IPS.

One of the benefits of the CFPB is that it gives U.S. consumers a single place to seek help with complaints regarding banking products and other financial products, Sherry said.

Previously, there were “too many cooks in the kitchen", she said.

“This brings everything under the same roof. It’s easier for consumers to know who to go to for help. Beforehand, there were seven different agencies engaged in regulating the banking system,” she said.

Those agencies included the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FDIC, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), National Credit Union Administration, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and Office of Thrift Supervision.

The FTC, for example, would look for trends in the credit industry and credit reporting industry, sometimes bringing legal actions in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice. However, they would not respond to individual complaints.

“As far as banking complaints, any banks that were national banks were (previously only) regulated by the OCC. They had robust consumer complaint unit. However, what would come back to us many times, they (a consumer) would submit a complaint, it would be sent for review and it would come back,” Sherry said.

“The OCC would write a letter saying, ‘The bank doesn’t see there’s a problem. We can’t do anything,’” she said.

“Financial services are key to a person’s well-being, livelihood, and prosperity. We want to keep people from being ripped off. That’s why we’re very pleased to have a new national consumer watchdog on the beat,” she said.

Court believes that the CFPB should be acting more aggressively.

“It also has to start banning certain types of products because they’re dangerous. There are some obscene interest rates on credit cards being charged, also payday lending, a lot of toxic financial products. They’re going to be asked to deal with these by petition,” Court said.

“The real test of the agency will be what it does when presented with toxic products,” Court said.

Court applauded the recent enforcement actions against Citibank and Discover Bank. “It’s a great example. An agency can step in and get 200 million dollars back to consumers’ pockets. Before that you had to file a class action lawsuit,” he said.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard Law School professor who came up with the idea for the agency, and who worked with interest groups and the U.S. Congress to bring the agency into fruition, also praised the Discover Bank action.

“I’m proud the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is standing up for working families by holding major credit card companies accountable for deceptive practices,” Warren, who is currently the Democratic nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts, said in a statement sent to IPS.

“The new consumer agency is a strong advocate for hardworking men and women here in Massachusetts and across the country. The CFPB has been hard at work reducing the fine print in credit card agreements and assisting with consumer complaints… These actions will help protect families from financial tricks and traps and create a level playing field,” Warren said.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Americas, Economy, Featured, Politics, Society Tagged With: , , , ,

Penang’s Women Lead Local Democracy

September 27, 2012 by

Global Analyst Online / IPS

Anil Netto

PENANG, Malaysia, Sep 27 (IPS) – A unique electoral exercise in Penang state, promoting participatory and gender-responsive decision-making at the grassroots level, may serve as a cue for the revival of local elections in Malaysia. Over three consecutive days, ending Sep. 23, low-income residents of high-rise flats on River Road, Penang Island, cast ‘ballots’ to compellingly indicate to planners their priorities.

Penang state consists of two parts – Penang Island, where the seat of government is, and Seberang Perai on the Malay peninsula. With a population of 1.5 million people Penang is an economically important state with a thriving tourist industry and port.

Before the polls, organisers had carried out a detailed census of 530 homes in and found 1,667 eligible ‘voters’ (aged 10 and above) in the two participating blocks.

The residents, divided into five focus groups, discussed six key priorities for final polling: building maintenance (lifts, water pipes, roof leakages), cleanliness of common areas, recreational amenities, parking areas, better security and awareness raising programmes.

On the polling days, volunteers handed out booklets containing five coupons of token money – each coupon representing ‘100 ringgit?. The residents then cast these five coupons in one or more of six boxes laid out in a row – each box representing one of the six pre-identified priorities.

At least half the members of the focus groups were women. Volunteers, many of them women, helped distribute the coupons and oversaw the polling and the counting of votes.

Women made up about half the number of voters who participated and played a key role in persuading residents to come out to vote. In the end, almost 70 percent of the residents turned up to cast their votes.

Norjan Ibrahim, secretary of the residents association, was upbeat. "The residents feel this (polling process) is a good programme, which they welcome," she told IPS.

She felt confident that the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) would take action "because we have put in a lot of effort in soliciting public feedback. And I trust the women’s group carrying out this programme."

Ibrahim was referring to the Penang Women’s Development Corporation (PWDC), set up to promote greater gender awareness, equality and justice and to empower women in all sectors.

The PWDC is a beneficiary of grants from the Penang state government, ruled since 2008 by a coalition of political parties that are in the opposition ranks at the federal level.

The federal government had suspended local council elections in 1960 (councillors are now mainly political appointees) making citizen involvement in the decision-making process difficult.

Penang, ruled as it is by (national) opposition parties, is lobbying hard for the reinstatement of local elections to promote the vibrant local democracy that the state was once known for.

The polling process carried out at the flats is also part of a gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) project initiated by the PWDC in collaboration with the two local councils, the MPPP, and its counterpart on mainland Penang, the MPSP.

Under a three-year pilot project, the local councils are adopting GRB to take into account the needs of all the people, including women, children and people with disabilities when formulating budget priorities.

”The process has surpassed our expectations,” says Aloyah Bakar of the PWDC, pointing to the impressive voter turnout.

Children and teens participated strongly. "I voted for building maintenance. The lighting needs to be repaired as the place is dimly lit. Fire extinguishers are missing. I want the place to be clean and bright," said Fareezuan Yusof, 15, told IPS.

Arash Fauwaz Asri, 16, said he voted for better parking facilities as cars and motorcycles are now haphazardly crammed into a small parking area next to the flats. "I feel this is a good way of getting views and it also strengthens neighbourhood ties."

”The people here badly want change in this area as the local council has given insufficient attention to these flats," said Hussain Hashim, the deputy chair of the flat residents’ association, acting as one of the ‘election observers’.

Walking around the blocks, Hussain, a driver for a catering business, pointed to low corridor railings in the high-rise blocks, which he said posed a potential danger to flat dwellers. Abandoned or broken down motorcycles are stacked in one corner at the rear of the premises.

Norjan nodded in agreement. "There are many problems here," said the supervisor in a local hospital, rattling off poor rubbish disposal and collection, unsatisfactory lift maintenance and haphazard parking as key issues.

The results of the polling did not come as a surprise. Building maintenance polled the most votes, followed by security and cleanliness.

”Now the residents have the big task of putting together working papers which will be a tedious process that will require some ‘hand holding’," says Aloyah.

The organisers will meet with the flat dwellers to come up a working paper on the three ‘winning’ needs and the paper will then be presented to the MPPP for incorporation in the local council’s 2014 budgeting process.

Observers say the process is commendable as it combines bottom-up participatory decision making with local democracy among women and men, young and old, in influencing how limited funds are to be allocated based on the people’s needs at the grassroots.

In Ampang Jajar on mainland Penang, a similar exercise was carried out at the Ampangan flats a couple of weeks ago, drawing 65-70 percent of the eligible voters.

The result in Aampang Jajar was slightly different as children came out in large numbers to vote: the ballot boxes that received the most votes was on for a recreational park. That was followed closely by improved building maintenance and traffic lights.

The unique electoral process is the brainchild of contemporary artist Wong Hoy Cheong, who monitored the polling: ”For me the most satisfying thing has been watching the residents, including the women, take control of their own needs,” he told IPS.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Asia, Politics, Report, Society Tagged With: , , ,
«Older Posts