Time for a global response to global problems

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/feature-stories/time-global-response-global-problems-20081210

10 December 2008

by Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International

Terrorists go on a rampage of senseless killing in Mumbai. Exhausted and terrified refugees pour into Uganda to escape the fighting in eastern Congo. Ten people are executed in Iran. Three hundred thousand civilians are displaced in northern Sri Lanka.

Slowing rates of economic growth cast deep gloom around the world. Not a particularly auspicious moment to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Anniversaries are a time for reflection and review. It is true that in many respects the human rights situation today is vastly improved from that in 1948. The equality of women, the rights of children, a free press and a fair judicial system are no longer disputed concepts but widely accepted standards that many countries have achieved and others are aspiring to. But it is equally true that injustice, impunity and inequality remain the hallmarks of our time.

If there is one lesson to be drawn from recent events in Mumbai, it is that our liberties remain precious, under threat, and in need of constant vigilance and protection. Governments have a duty to protect people from terrorism, and they will be under pressure - as happened after 9/11 - to tighten security.

But in that process they must not repeat the mistakes of the US-led War on Terror. Detaining people indefinitely, holding them in legal limbo in prisons like Guantanamo camp, condoning or conducting torture, weakening due process and the rule of law are not the way forward.

Free societies are attacked by terrorists precisely because they are free. To erode our freedoms in the name of security is to hand victory to the terrorists.

It is not enough, though, simply to hold on to our rights. We must expand the benefits of human rights to all who are deprived, discriminated and excluded. The global financial crisis has shown how wrong was the assumption that unrestrained growth would inevitably lead to prosperity, and that the rising tide would lift all boats.

The tide has become a tsunami swallowing not only big financial institutions but also the homes and hopes of many poor people around the world. Millions of people are being pushed back into poverty even as billions of dollars are being invested in bailing out those very institutions that have brought us to this state.

Wealthier nations have resources and established safety nets to help those who fall behind in their country. The poor in poor and emerging economies have to fend for themselves. Those with the least margin of survival will pay the most for the greed of the bankers in Wall Street and the City of London.

Women working in a garment factory in Ho Chi Minh City in Viet Nam, miners hauling minerals from Mano River in West Africa, workers at an industrial estate in the Pearl River Delta in China, telephone operators at an outsourced office in Gurgaon, India will bear the heaviest brunt of the economic decline. If falling remittances and international aid force governments to cut back on social programmes and poverty eradication projects, the consequences could be disastrous.

In economic terms, growth is being wiped out. In human rights terms, the rights to food, education, housing, decent work and health are under attack. We face a dual challenge: fulfilling human rights in order to eradicate poverty and preserving human rights in the face of terrorism.

Human rights are universal – every person is born free and equal in rights and dignity. Human rights are indivisible – all rights, whether economic, social, civil, political or cultural - are equally important. There is no hierarchy of rights. Free speech is as essential as the right to education, the right to health as valuable as the right to a fair trial.

The tectonic plates of global power are shifting, and there is now realization among world leaders that they must work together if they are to deal with the economic maelstrom. The invitation recently extended by the US Administration to 20 leading economies of the world – including China, Saudi Arabia, India and Brazil - to plan a global response to the economic crisis is a concrete sign of the new drive to be inclusive.

Being inclusive does not only mean fitting more chairs around the existing table. It also means signing up to global values. The Universal Declaration provides those set of values.

In 1948, in the face of the enormous challenges, world leaders turned to the Universal Declaration as the affirmation of their common humanity and the blue print for their collective security. Today’s world leaders must do the same.

Landmark cluster bomb treaty signed in Oslo

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/landmark-cluster-bomb-treaty-signed-oslo-20081203

Ninety two states signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions - which bans the production, stockpiling, use and export of cluster bombs during a ceremony in Oslo on Wednesday.

Further signatories are expected on Thursday as the conference continues with civil society campaigners predicting at least 100 states eventually signing the treaty, which also requires states to provide adequate assistance to victims of these weapons. The treaty was negotiated in Dublin in May 2008. It must be ratified by 30 countries before it enters into force.

This treaty is a landmark victory for civil society campaigners. Hundreds of NGOs, including Amnesty International, and survivors of indiscriminate cluster bomb explosions, have supported the worldwide campaign and joined the Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC) which was originally started in 2003.

The outgoing US administration boycotted the negotiations and has refused to sign the treaty. Russia, China and Slovakia have also refused to sign. However, Afghanistan which has followed the negotiations but stated that it would not sign the treaty has just been given a green light from Kabul.

"This treaty will help to stigmatise the use of these weapons and Amnesty International calls on the new US administration to sign up to the ban after taking over the White House", said Brian Wood, Amnesty International's arms control manager.

For more than 40 years, cluster bombs have killed and wounded innocent people, causing untold suffering, loss and hardship for thousands in more than 20 countries. These weapons cause death and injury to civilians during attacks and for years afterwards because of the lethal contamination that they cause when they fail to detonate on impact.

The weapon caused more civilian casualties in Iraq in 2003 and Kosovo in 1999 than any other weapon system. Israel's massive use of the weapon in Lebanon in August 2006 resulted in more than 200 civilian casualties in the year following the ceasefire. Alongside cluster munitions from the US, Chinese 122mm Type 81 cluster munition rockets and MZD-2 submunitions for such rockets were also found in Lebanon.

A cluster munition is a weapon comprising multiple explosive submunitions which are dispensed from a container. Cluster bombs hamper post-conflict rebuilding and rehabilitation and the dangerous work of cluster bomb clearance absorbs funds that could be spent on other urgent humanitarian needs. The appearance and size of cluster bombs make them look particularly interesting, and toy-like. It is estimated that 60 percent of civilian casualties are children.

"Amnesty International believes that, while the new treaty is not perfect, it will enable states to significantly reduce the risks of civilian deaths and injuries in conflict and post conflict situations," said Brian Wood, Amnesty International's arms control manager.

The formal ceremony will conclude with a speech by Richard Moyes from the Cluster Munitions Campaign – a clear sign of the strength of civil society's involvement in securing this victory.

First military execution since 1961 scheduled next month

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/20/military.execution/index.html?eref=edition

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier convicted of rape and murder two decades ago will be executed December 10 in the nation's first military execution since 1961, the Army said Thursday.

Pvt. Ronald Grey has been held in Fort Leavenworth's death row since 1988.

Pvt. Ronald Gray has been on the military's death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, since 1988. A court-martial panel sitting at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, unanimously convicted him of committing two murders and other crimes in the Fayetteville, North Carolina, area, and sentenced him to death.

Gray's execution by injection will be carried out by Fort Leavenworth soldiers at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, the Army said in a news release.

Gray was convicted of raping and killing a female Army private and a civilian near his post at Fort Bragg. He was also convicted of the rape and attempted murder of another fellow soldier in her barracks at the post.

Both military and civilian courts found Gray responsible for the crimes, which were committed between April 1986 and January 1987. Gray pleaded guilty to two murders and five rapes in a civilian court and was sentenced to three consecutive and five concurrent life terms.

The general court-martial at Fort Bragg then tried him and in April 1988 convicted him of two murders, an attempted murder and three rapes.

In July, President George W. Bush approved the Army's request to execute Gray.

"The president took action following completion of a full appellate process, which upheld the conviction and sentence to death," the Army said in the news release. "Two petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court were denied during the appellate processing of Pvt. Gray's case."

Members of the U.S. military have been executed throughout history, but just 10 have been executed with presidential approval since 1951 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military's modern-day legal system.

The Army also sought Bush's authorization to execute another condemned soldier, Pvt. Dwight Loving, who was convicted of robbing and killing two cab drivers in 1988.

The last U.S. military execution was in 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was hanged for raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl. Bennett was sentenced in 1955.

The U.S. military hasn't actively pursued an execution for a military prisoner since President John F. Kennedy commuted a death sentence in 1962. Nine men are on military death row.

President-elect Obama recommits to closing Guantánamo and ending torture

US President-elect Obama said in an interview on Sunday that he will take "early action" on closing the detention centre at Guantánamo Bay and ensuring that the USA does not resort to torture. He told the CBS programme 60 Minutes on Sunday: "I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantánamo, and I will follow through on that. "I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture. And I'm gonna make sure that we don't torture." Amnesty International said on Monday that President-elect Obama's statement is an important a step in the right direction. "Amnesty International urges him to seize the initiative after taking office in January and to prioritize ending all internationally unlawful detention and interrogation practices by the USA," said Rob Freer, Amnesty International's researcher on the USA. "We urge president-elect Obama to turn his words into action within the first 100 days of his presidency and demonstrate his commitment to meeting the USA's international obligations, including by signing an executive order prohibiting torture and other ill-treatment, as defined under international law. "President George W. Bush also said that the USA would not torture, but the use of "waterboarding" and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" against detainees held in secret CIA custody and the torture or other ill-treatment of detainees in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantánamo have told a different story. "They reveal the sad and disturbing fact that the USA has authorized and justified the use of torture and other unlawful practices in the name of national security," said Rob Freer. Amnesty International is also calling on the President-elect to support an independent commission of inquiry into all aspects of the USA's detention and interrogation practices in the "war on terror", and to ensure full accountability for human rights violations committed in that context. The organization has written to President-elect Obama to urge him to ensure that closing Guantánamo, ending torture and other ill-treatment, and supporting a commission of inquiry, are among his priorities for his first 100 days in office.

Sudan president calls cease-fire in Darfur

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/11/12/darfur.ceasefire/index.html

Sudan's president has agreed to an immediate, unconditional cease-fire in the Darfur region where government forces have waged a bloody war against militias that international critics have characterized as genocide.

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, who was charged with war crimes, is under pressure to end the war in Darfur.

President Omar al-Bashir agreed to the truce, which was one of several recommendations that came out of a month-long meeting with hundreds of tribal and rebel leaders from Darfur, according to Mohamed Hussein Zaroug, a Sudanese diplomatic official in London, England.

Sudan's state-run news agency confirmed that the president agreed to the cease-fire, which he announced in a speech on Wednesday morning in Khartoum.

Al-Bashir is under pressure to end the fighting, particularly since he was charged with genocide by the International Criminal Court earlier this year for the government's campaign of violence in Darfur.

Fighting in the western region of Darfur broke out in 2003, when rebels began an uprising and the government launched a brutal counter-insurgency campaign.

Sudan authorities armed and cooperated with Arab militias that went from village to village in Darfur, killing, torturing and raping residents there, according to the United Nations, Western governments and human rights organizations. The militias targeted civilian members of tribes from which the rebels draw strength.

In the past five years, about 300,000 people have been killed through direct combat, disease, or malnutrition, the United Nations says.

Another 2.7 million people have been forced to flee their homes because of fighting among rebels, government forces, and allied Janjaweed militias. In Arabic, Janjaweed means a man with a gun on a horse. These Arab militias are notorious for raping and killing villagers in Darfur.

Sustainability to leave mark on wine

http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=149562

05 Nov 2008

Cape Town, South Africa: There is a unique opportunity in South Africa this week for the wine industry to engage with the conservation community and put sustainability on the global wine agenda.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) general assembly, being held in Cape Town from 3-7 November, gives representatives from the business, environmental and social sectors from over 60 countries a chance to discuss the close links between people, forests and business around the world.

One of the key issues will be cork oak landscapes, which face a major threat from the growing use of plastic and metal substitutes for cork stoppers in wine bottles, cork’s main market. Globally 15 billion cork stoppers are manufactured every year to seal wine bottles and the role of cork and wine in promoting sustainable use of forests will provide important guidelines to the forestry sector.

Cork is the bark of the cork oak tree, growing naturally in the West Mediterranean Basin and designated as a global priority species by WWF in urgent need for conservation. The cork industry worldwide is worth approximately €1.5 billion.

“Cork for wine bottle stoppers accounts for almost 70% of the total value of the cork market,” said Thérèse Brinkcate, Ecosystems Partnership Manager for WWF-South Africa. “Hence the vital role played by the wine industry in maintaining the economic value of cork and the cork oak landscapes.

“The increase in the market share of alternative wine stoppers, specifically plastic stoppers and screw tops, could reduce the economic value of cork lands therefore leading to their conversion for other uses, abandonment, degradation, and finally loss of one of the most valuable examples of a human–nature balanced system.”

Through its cork oak landscapes programme WWF uses FSC certification as a market-based tool to drive best management practices on the ground while ensuring sustainable cork markets through the production and trade chain, from the forest to the wine bottle.

WWF considers that FSC certification is the best tool to ensure responsible management of cork oak forests, and therefore it is working with its partners on promoting FSC certification among the cork industry, wine industry, land owners and forest managers.

Leading wineries and retailers have already publicly demonstrated their commitment to cork and wine bottles sealed with FSC cork are already available in the market.

South Africa has become the world's eighth largest producer of wine, contributing 3.5% of the global wine production. Ninety per cent of South Africa’s wine is produced in the Cape Floral Kingdom (CFK). This is where an initiative called “the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative” (BWI) takes place.

“Since 2005 WWF has been pioneering this Initiative which is a collaboration between the South African wine industry and conservation institutions [The Botanical Society of South Africa, and The Green Trust] aiming at minimizing the further loss of threatened natural habitat and contributing to sustainable wine production through the adoption of biodiversity guidelines by the South African wine industry,” said Brinkcate.

In September 2008 the BWI reached a major milestone with the area under conservation (over 104,000ha) now equal to the area of planted vineyard in the Cape Winelands. This conservation area has been set aside by 13 champions, who are exemplary producers achieving distinction in their conservation efforts, nine producer cellars and 107 members.

“At a time of global ecological credit crunch, this event will provide a real opportunity to leverage South African wine producers and retailers to further improve their environmental sustainability by committing to using FSC cork stoppers, encouraging the cork sector to increase the supply of FSC certified cork, leading the way for the wine industry worldwide,” said Brinckate.

Singer, anti-apartheid icon Miriam Makeba dies

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/10/makeba.obit/index.html

(CNN) -- Legendary South African singer Miriam Makeba, an outspoken critic of apartheid, died late Sunday in southern Italy, a hospital spokesman has told CNN. She was 76.

Makeba, shown here in Switzerland in 2006, was an outpsoken opponent of apartheid.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

Makeba's career spanned parts of six decades and helped bring African music to a global audience. She was known as the "Empress of African Song" and "Mama Africa."

She was considered by many to be the most important female vocalist to come out of South Africa.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela, a prisoner under the nation's apartheid regime, mourned her death, but praised her commitment to the cause.

"Despite her tremendous sacrifice and the pain she felt to leave behind her beloved family and her country when she went into exile, she continued to make us proud as she used her worldwide fame to focus attention on the abomination of apartheid," Mandela said in a statement released Monday.

An outspoken critic of apartheid, she had her South African citizenship revoked by the country's government in 1960. For the next 30 years, Makeba considered herself a "citizen of the world" until her citizenship was restored.

She recorded her first single, "Lakutshona Llange," in 1953 as a member of the Manhattan Brothers.

Makeba's breakthrough hit in the United States came in 1967, when "Pata Pata" charted. It was recorded 11 years earlier in South Africa.

Makeba lived in exile for 31 years in the United States, France, Guinea in West Africa and Belgium, The Associated Press reported. She returned to South Africa in 1990, when many long-exiled South Africans returned under reforms instituted by then-President F.W. de Klerk.

"I never understood why I couldn't come home," Ms. Makeba said upon her return, according to an AP report. "I never committed any crime."

Makeba spoke before the United Nations in 1976, denouncing the policy of apartheid, or racial segregation, according to AP. After that, South Africa's government-run radio and television refused to broadcast her songs until 1989.

American entertainer Steve Allen helped launch her career in the United States and she often toured with singer Harry Belafonte during the 1960s. In 1987 she performed with singer Paul Simon on his "Graceland" concert tour.