http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/feature-stories/making-human-rights-reality-20081209
9 December 2008
Around the world, in every region, in every country, there are people who work tirelessly to make human rights a reality. Without these people, who often put their life and liberty on the line, human rights would only be an abstract concept – something everyone has in principle or on paper, but not all have in reality.
Who are these people defending human rights? They include:
grassroots community activists who protest against companies which destroy their local environment and livelihoods;
the surviving families of people who have been forcibly disappeared who demand answers and justice;
people determined to bring to light the true scale of sexual violence against women, and who provide unconditional support to victims;
doctors who distribute essential medicines against the will of the government;
lawyers who defend human rights activists and provide legal support, often without fees;
journalists who risk their lives to uncover corruption and human rights violations;
trade unionists who campaign for workers' rights to live in dignity;
people who work for human rights for their families, communities and wider society.
These people do their work on the street, in the court room, in the hospital – everywhere human rights are abused or violated. Those who come to the defence of those whose very rights are at stake – and do so in a peaceful manner while respecting all human rights are those we call human rights defenders.
Defending human rights is essential work not only for others – by defending others they are exercising their own human rights -- such as the freedom of expression or association. To be a human rights defender is to demand that everyone's – including their own – rights must be respected and protected at all times. No matter what.
Yet it is this claim of their own human rights which causes many to want to silence them. Human rights defenders commonly face intimidation, threats and even death at the hands of those who disagree with them – both from state authorities and others. Sometimes members of their own family and/or their community isolate and try to silence them.
Ten years ago, all members of the United Nations committed to promote and protect the work of human rights defenders. The resulting UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders says we all have the right to defend human rights.
Ten years on, however, and 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, defending human rights remains a contested and sometimes dangerous business. Everywhere there are human rights defenders, there are states forgetting or wilfully ignoring what they agreed in 1998.
The future of everyone's human rights are inherently connected to the ability of human rights defenders to operate freely and without intimidation.
"In this anniversary year, let’s recommit to the legitimacy of the work of human rights defenders and celebrate their ongoing commitment to make human rights a reality," said Eleanor Openshaw, Human Rights Defenders Coordinator, from Amnesty International.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Making human rights a reality-AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Human Rights Defender in Thailand: Somchai Homlaor
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/feature-stories/human-rights-defender-thailand-somchai-homlaor-20081209
9 December 2008
Somchai Homlaor has been a key figure in the defence of human rights in Thailand for 25 years, since his trial by fire during the birth of the nation’s modern human rights movement. In October 1973, while obtaining a law degree from prestigious Thammasat University, a young Somchai Homlaor was a leader in mass student-led protests – violently suppressed by the military government – demanding democracy and human rights.
Three years later, he had founded a human rights group and he was again a protest leader during the October 1976 protests that similarly ended in bloodshed, including his own. He was detained for 10 months on spurious charges, after which he had to seek refuge in the northern Thai jungle, under Communist Party of Thailand control, for three years.
Since then Somchai Homlaor has founded, led, or been a prominent member of nearly every major human rights organization and movement in Thailand.
In 1986, Somchai Homlaor’s work with Amnesty International forced him to flee once again, this time out of the country. When Amnesty International published evidence that a Cambodian refugee had been tortured by the Thai military, Somchai Homlaor, who had uncovered most of the information, was forced to flee to Hong Kong.
At various times during the 1990s, Khun Somchai was the Secretary-General of both the Campaign for Popular Democracy and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development. The Campaign for Popular Democracy spearheaded the popular uprising that toppled the military-backed government in “Black May” 1992. This action was once more accompanied by much civilian bloodshed.
On account of his leadership the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development was Southeast Asia’s pre-eminent human rights organization.
He was also the President of Thailand’s Union for Civil Liberty, the Chair of the Lawyers Council of Thailand’s Human Rights Committee, and a Board member of the 14 October (1973) Foundation, which works to keep the memory and spirit of those – and his – formative demonstrations alive.
Today, Somchai Homlaor applies his experience and legal expertise to a wide range of human rights groups and causes in Thailand. Within the National Human Rights Commission, an independent body that awarded him its 2007 Thai Human Rights Defender Award, Somchai Homlaor is Vice-Chair of the Subcommittees on Enforced Disappearance, Law, Policy, and the Justice System, and on Torture.
Under Thailand’s 2008 Constitution, he serves as a Committee member of the National Legal Reform Committee and is an Executive Board member of the Political Development Council.
Somchai Homlaor is a Committee member of Focus on the Global South, focusing on fair trade, a senior legal consultant for the Asia-Pacific regional office of the International Commission of Jurists, focusing on the rule of law, and an Executive Committee member of both the Thai Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism and the Asian Institute for Human Rights.
He is the founder and Secretary-General of the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF), focusing on migrant workers and the Chair of the Campaign Committee for Human Rights, which concentrates on human rights advocacy.
Perhaps most importantly, Somchai Homlaor is the President of the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF), an NGO that organizes human rights education activities and training and seeks to build bridges between different elements of society. In particular, the CrCF focuses on the civil armed conflict between Muslim militants and largely Buddhist security forces and civilians in southern Thailand.
"At a time when most regional and international human rights and intergovernmental organizations are focusing on Myanmar in Southeast Asia," said Donna Guest, Deputy Director, Asia Pacific Program, Amnesty International, "Somchai Homlaor and the CrCF are bringing much-needed attention – and trying to effect real change – to a conflict that has killed over 3,500 people since January 2004."
Read More
Making human rights a reality (Feature, 9 December 2008)
Eight ministers and Rangoon's mayor to resign soon for 2010 election-MIZZIMA
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/1414-eight-ministers-and-rangoons-mayor-to-resign-soon.html
by Mizzima News
Tuesday, 09 December 2008 18:07
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) - At least eight ministers in the cabinet of Burma's military government along with the mayor of Rangoon will resign from their current positions in preparation to contest the upcoming 2010 election, a source in the military said.
According to the source in Naypyitaw, ministers from the Ministries of Forestry, Construction, Immigration & Population, Livestock Breeding & Fisheries, Transport, Agriculture & Irrigation, Industry (1), Communication, Posts & Telegraphs, in addition to the mayor of Rangoon, will soon retire from their positions as part of the lead up to the 2010 general election.
Despite criticism from the political opposition, Burma's military junta is determined to carry out its planned seven step roadmap, which includes the general election as its fifth component.
"The ministers will contest in constituencies where they are sure of gaining majority support," said an observer in Burma, adding that Aung Thawng from the Ministry of Industry (1) is likely to contest in Mandalay, while Brigadier General Thein Zaw from the Ministry of Communication, Posts & Telegraphs is likely to run in Myitkyina, Kachin state.
He added that the junta is also likely to impose restrictions on opposition parties – including the National League for Democracy (NLD) – in contesting the election that is likely to shape a new government for the country with limited civilian participation.
Despite a landslide win in the last general election in 1990, Burma's military junta denied power to the NLD, instead placing party leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
The list of the eight ministers and the mayor, who are likely to resign from their positions, are given below:
Sl. No
Position/ Names Position/Ministries
1 Brigadier General, Thein Aung
Minister, Ministry of Forestry
2 Major General, Saw Tun
Minister, Ministry of Construction
3 Major General, Saw Lwin Minister, Ministry of Immigration & Population
4 Brigadier General, Maung Maung Thein Minister, Ministry of Livestock Breeding & Fisheries
5 Major General, Thein Swe Minister, Ministry of Transport
6 U, Aung Thaung
Minister, Ministry of Industry No. (1)
7 Major General, Htay Oo
Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
8 Brigadier General, Thein Zaw Minister, Ministry of Communications, Posts & Telegraphs
9 Brigadier General, Aung Thein Linn Mayor of Rangoon
Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human Rights Week, 2008 -WHITE HOUSE
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/12/20081209-8.html
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America
White House News
The United States was founded on the principle that government must respect people's rights to speak freely, worship as they choose, and pursue their dreams in liberty. As we remember the enduring importance of our Constitution's Bill of Rights, our thoughts turn to those who have yet to secure these precious liberties. During Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human Rights Week, Americans celebrate the rights bestowed upon all by our Creator and reaffirm our deep commitment to helping those whose desire for liberty and justice is still dismissed and denied.
In a free society, every person is treated with dignity and can rise as high as their talents and hard work will take them. Yet in countries like Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and Zimbabwe, fervent pleas for freedom are silenced by tyranny and oppression. So long as there are people who fight for liberty, the United States will stand with them and speak out for those who have no other voice.
Freedom is the eternal birthright of all mankind, and during Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human Rights Week, we renew our commitment to lead the cause of human rights and pray for the day when the light of liberty will shine on all of humanity.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 10, 2008, as Human Rights Day; December 15, 2008, as Bill of Rights Day; and the week beginning December 10, 2008, as Human Rights Week. I call upon the people of the United States to mark these observances with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
GEORGE W. BUSH
2 men arrested for smuggling 5 women from Myanmar into Japan
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20081210p2a00m0na010000c.html
Two men have been arrested for smuggling five women from Myanmar into Japan and putting them to work in restaurants, Tokyo police announced Wednesday.
Arrested under the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law were 69-year-old Hideo Kobune, president of NPO Wellness Network 21, and notary public Izumi Omori, 58. Their accomplice, a 27-year-old Myanmarese woman who worked as a broker, is already under arrest.
Police say that Kobune forged graduation certificates from a Japanese language school in Myanmar, as well as fake certificates of employment from his trading and software companies, and used them to obtain residence status certificates for five Myanmarese women. They each paid him around 1.5 million yen.
The pair are believed to have made around 160 million yen from smuggling since February 2006. Kobune is also believed to have used his NPO to lean on the Japanese consulate in Guangzhou, China, to expedite visa applications for Chinese immigrants, who formed the majority of the 135 people he illegally brought into Japan.
"I admit making them work in the restaurants, but Omori actually brought them into the country," Kobune told investigators. Omori has denied the charges, saying: "I don't see it as mass smuggling."
Set up in 2003, the NPO had links to a Tokyo-based criminal organization, according to police.
集団密航：助長容疑でＮＰＯ理事長ら逮捕 謝礼は１億円超
ミャンマー国籍の女性を集団密航させて飲食店で働かせていたとして、警視庁組織犯罪対策１課は１０日、ＮＰＯ法人「ウエルネス・ネットワーク２１」（東京都中央区）理事長、小舟日出雄（６９）＝江東区亀戸＝、行政書士の大森泉（５８）＝葛飾区四つ木＝の両容疑者を入管法違反（集団密航助長）容疑で逮捕したと発表した。０６年２月以降、中国やミャンマー国籍の男女計約１３５人を集団密航させるなどして、謝礼として計約１億６０００万円を受け取っていたとみられる。
調べでは、小舟容疑者らは、ミャンマー国籍のブローカーの女（２７）＝同法違反容疑で既に逮捕＝と共謀。０７年４月、いずれも同国籍の女（３３）ら５人を都内の飲食店で働かせる目的で不法に入国させた疑い。
小舟容疑者らは、ブローカーの女の親族女性（４４）を通じ、ミャンマーの日本語学校の卒業証明書を偽造。さらに自分が経営する中央区の貿易会社やソフトウエア開発会社などとうその雇用契約書を作成し、東京入国管理局に提出し、在留資格証明書を得ていた。５人はそれぞれ約１５０万円を小舟容疑者らに謝礼として支払っていた。
また、１３５人のうち約９割が中国籍の男女で、小舟容疑者は９月、中国・広州の日本総領事館でＮＰＯの名前を出したうえで「在留資格証明書が出ているのに、なぜ早くビザを発行しないのか」と抗議したこともあったという。
小舟容疑者は「飲食店などで働かせたことは認めるが、集団密航は大森容疑者の依頼でやった」と供述し、大森容疑者は「集団密航させたという認識はない」と容疑を否認しているという。
ＮＰＯ法人は０３年設立。ホームページによると、福祉の充実などを目的とした情報収集や調査研究が主な事業。組対１課によれば、活動実態はほとんどなく在京の指定暴力団とも関係があったという。【武内亮】
英訳
毎日新聞 2008年12月10日 11時45分（最終更新 12月10日 12時46分）
The Elders: Moral Authority Without Superpowers
http://gleektopia.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/the-elders-moral-authority-without-superpowers/
In news on 09/12/2008 at 13:58
An interesting group of folks-Yunus and Cardoso are high on my list-although I can’t see Kofi ‘we didn’t understand how bad Rwanda was’ Annan being all that influential amongst leaders in Central Africa at this point. Besides, the group itself may be all bark and no bite without the cooperation of at least one great power. Anyone who thinks it will be a government other than the U.S. and/or the Europeans are kidding themselves.
“The Elders, a group founded in 2007, is made up of a dozen former world leaders working behind the scenes and in plain sight to stem the spread of conflicts, poverty and human rights issues. The founding roster for “The Elders” includes:
• Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa
• Graca Machel, former first lady of Mozambique, activist for women’s and children’s rights, and Mandela’s wife
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa
• Jimmy Carter, former U.S. president responsible for the 1978 Camp David peace accords between Israel and Egypt
• Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Lakhdar Brahimi, former Algerian diplomat
• Muhammad Yunus, economist and founder of the Grameen Bank
• Fernando Cardoso, former president of Brazil
• Kofi Annan, former secretary general of the United Nations
• Aung San Suu Kyi, pro-democracy activist and the prime minister-elect of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), unrecognized winner of the 1990 Burma election
• Ela Bhatt, founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association, a trade union with more than 1 million members in India
• Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway and former director general of the World Health Organization “
via NPR
Criminals are winning when it comes to combating cybercrime
http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200850/2593/Criminals-are-winning-when-it-comes-to-combating-cybercrime
The criminals are winning the game of cybercrime vs. cyberlaw.(IMG:J.Anderson)
In the new Virtual Criminology Report (VCR) from McAfee, there is a comment in the Foreword that paints a grim reality for practitioners of the security art. Despite all that has been done to combat cybercrime, the criminals have the upper hand. While you would expect this outlook from a security vendor, looking back on 2008, there is a lot of truth to that statement.
In the past three installments, the McAfee VCR has mostly been a trending report on cyber threats. This year痴 report instead looks at how cybercrime is winning the battle over cyberlaw. To back that train of thought, the McAfee report lists three findings that came to light.
The first was that cybercrime is simply not a top priority for many governments. Political attention is diverted to other matters when you consider the economy and the other risks such as terrorism (i.e. kidnappings, hostage taking, and massive amounts of destruction -- not the let's take away your shoelaces and bottle of water kind).
Mary Kirwan, international lawyer and former cybercrime prosecutor in Canada, sums it up by saying: "The bad guys will inherit the earth, and we will be left swinging in the wind."
"The Achilles heel of the technology sector is the same vulnerability that has the financial services sector currently on its knees: a wealth of arrogance. Complexity is worshipped as an end in itself, and simplicity is scorned. There痴 no understanding of critical interdependencies, through lack of communication," she added.
"We致e a poor grasp of what glues the Frankenstein monster we致e created together, and what can just as equally tear it all apart. But the bad guys are in the know, and they are ready to exploit the demonstrable lack of big picture thinking in the sector."
Another finding is that there is little to no cross-border law enforcement against criminals who commit crimes online. No international efforts mean that criminals in China will continue to victimize people in Europe or America with little done to catch them.
Eugene Spafford, Professor of Computer Sciences at Purdue University and Executive Director of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS) in the U.S., explains:
"Criminal behavior is still receiving political cover. For example, in the case of the Myanmar denial of service attacks, they took place with local Eastern European and Russian support. Russia and China are especially reluctant to cooperate with foreign law enforcement bodies for reputation and intelligence reasons."
Finally, the report says that, on every level, law enforcement is ad hoc and ill-equipped to cope with cybercrime. "While there has been progress, there is still a significant lack of training and understanding in digital forensics and evidence collection as well as in the law courts around the world," the report says.
"There are mountains of digital evidence out there; the problem is that there aren稚 enough well-trained investigators, prosecutors and judges to use it effectively. With PC and broadband penetration increasingly high, direct, and indirect evidence is easy to find from machines. Few criminals have the technical ability to avoid leaving or wiping digital traces," commented Peter Sommer, Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics・Information Systems Integrity Group and Visiting Reader at the Open University.
Clearly the resolution for the problems listed in the McAfee report is information and training. The problem is that since most law enforcement offices and investigators are trapped by political red tape, information is a rare commodity.
The criminals instantly share information on a global scale, and laws mean nothing to them. With that in mind at this stage of the game, none of the major players in the cybercrime arena are taking steps to move the scales back to center, leaving law enforcement out in the cold.
Training, on the other hand, is readily available yet rarely taken advantage of. Add the economy into the mix, and more political hurdles, and law enforcement is second or even third rate when it comes to investigating crimes.
From the report, a comment that demonstrates this point came from a reformed criminal called Matthew Bevan.
"I don稚 think law enforcement is equipped to deal with cybercrime, and this has always been the case as people that love IT and have the right skills go into IT jobs, not a law enforcement role," he offered.
"It is extremely rare that an IT specialist would join the police. Therefore, law enforcers lack the right skills to interpret cybercrime and know what to look for. A simple example could be a new USB stick that looks like a torn cable but actually holds 4GB worth of data -- the police wouldn稚 recognize this."
McAfee痴 report centering on cybercrime couldn稚 come at a better time. Also released this week is a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies that urges President-elect Obama to create a White House department aimed at protecting U.S. cyber interests from attack by foreign agents.
Titled Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency, the CSIS report says: "The United States must treat cybersecurity as one of the most important national security challenges it faces."
Maybe with a new political climate on the U.S., and the growth of Internet-related crimes, there will be a shift in power and cyberlaw will move to match, if not beat, cybercrime during 2009.
Ineffective Law Enforcement, Bad Economy Fueling Cybercrime
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/155178/ineffective_law_enforcement_bad_economy_fueling_cybercrime.html
Tuesday, December 09, 2008 7:58 AM PST
Cybercriminals operating worldwide are benefitting from ineffective law enforcement and a growing economic recession that could make jittery people more susceptible to cybercrime scams.
So concludes security firm McAfee in its new report, "Virtual Criminology Report--Cybercrime vs. Cyberlaw." published Tuesday. The report pulls together the opinions of about two dozen legal experts, academic researchers and security-response professionals working as far afield as Britain, continental Europe, the Baltic countries, Brazil, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and North America.
"There have been a few cases where cybercriminals have been promptly arrested, but they're usually responsible for the small attacks," says Paulo Lima, a Brazilian lawyer specializing in computer-related crime. "Those responsible for the large operations have never been arrested. The public sector has usually acted in a mitigating manner, attacking the symptom and not the illness -- there is an antiquated system and a completely unprepared law enforcement body."
Lima's sentiment is echoed in Britain, India and elsewhere by those involved in trying to combat a worldwide cybercrime spree that includes phishing, denial-of-service (DoS) extortion rackets, botnets, spam, cyber-espionage and national attacks of a political nature.
"Cybercrime has become a big problem in India this year," says Vijay Mukhi, president of the Foundation of Internet Security and Technology in India. "However, politicians and judges do not understand how to deal with it, and in fact few of them ever use the Internet. Police are reluctant to register cases because they prove too difficult to prosecute."
The view among some in the United Kingdom is only slightly more optimistic. Peter Sommer, a British professor and consultant whose main research field is the reliability of digital evidence, says there's some progress being made in how the U.K. courts address technology-related crimes, but the computer forensics piece of the puzzle is not yet complete. "The Council for Registered Forensics Practitioners scheme to accredit experts is still not yet working," he adds.
Anther problem is talent: In many places around the world, private industry is siphoning the cybercrime fighting talent from government, offering them more money to work in the private sector.
In addition, many worry that the growing economic recession and banking fiscal crisis is being exploited by cybercriminals to prey upon jittery consumers.
"We are seeing rounds of phishing e-mails which purport to be from banks responding to the crisis," says Philip Virgo, secretary general of London-based EURIM, a group whose membership includes high-tech vendors, businesses and British and European legislators focusing on IT policy issues. "We are also seeing a round of phony CV [resume] sites, whose main aim is to collect personal details."
Politics is also an issue. China, Russia and Moldova are often blamed as international sources for all kinds of cybercrime, and the McAfee report takes up the issue of whether there are places around the world where prosecution of cybercrime is thought to be especially lax.
"Criminal behavior is still receiving political cover," says Eugene Spafford, professor of computer sciences at Purdue University and executive director of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security in the United States.
One example Spafford cites is the July cyberattack on Web sites protesting the Burmese military regime, in which the government in Myanmar was thought to have had a hand. "In the case of the Myanmar denial-of-service attacks, they took place with local Eastern European and Russian support," he says.
"Russia and China are especially reluctant to cooperate with foreign law enforcement bodies for reputation and intelligence reasons," Spafford adds.
Another contributor to the report, Dmitri Alperovitch, says he believes that Russian's President Vladimir Putin and political influence within the Federal Security Service (Russia's successor to the Soviet KGB) are hampering efforts to prosecute cybercrimes, such as those related to the Storm botnet. Alperovitch is director of intelligence analysis and hosted security at Secure Computing (recently acquired by McAfee).
McAfee says Russia is the predominant source of the most sophisticated, well-designed malware.
"The vast percentage of 'professional' malware we see today is, frankly, coming out of Russia," acknowledges Dave Marcus, director of security research and communication at McAfee Avert Labs. "We find it on Russian hosting sites and the read-me documents are in Russian."
National concerns about political uses of malware and denial-of-service attacks are growing, according to the McAfee report.
Estonia, which suffered massive and crippling DoS attacks in April 2007, this year established a "top-secret cybersecurity hub," which has been "operational as of August 2008 and backed by NATO and seven EU countries (Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Spain)," the McAfee report states.
Estonia also is said to have pledged 50,000 Euros to back the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime.
But while some countries end up as high-tech crime scapegoats, the report notes, in reality it's very difficult to precisely identify origination points.
"In fact, obfuscation seems to be the name of the game," says Alana Maurushat, acting director of the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre of the University of New South Wales in Australia. "It is easy to make it appear as if malware or espionage activities are originating from a county other than the original source. There is considerable misdirection as to origin of attacks. Much traffic is misdirected as a decoy. The actual attack may originate in the same city as the target. This is often done with cases of country espionage and corporate espionage."
Those out on the Web front lines say they can only speak about what they witness daily.
"We're getting hacking attempts constantly," says Clay Hill, Web site manager at the libraries division at Mississippi State University, which allows authorized access to research. "And most of it is from China."
Cybercrime toll mounts for business
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/092208-cybercrime.html
Council of Europe, ISPs draft anti-cybercrime tactics
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/040108-council-of-europe-isps-draft.html
Diary of a Deliberately Spammed Housewife
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/070108-mcafee-spam-experiment.html
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ASEAN human rights body: Will it have an impact on Myanmar's junta?
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/12/10/asean-human-rights-body-will-it-have-impact-myanmar039s-junta.html
Djoko Susilo , Jakarta | Wed, 12/10/2008 10:51 AM | Opinion
Almost a year ago, at a meeting of parliamentarians of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, I urged the ASEAN states to freeze Myanmar's membership from the 10-member grouping since there had been no serious political will to implement democracy and protect human rights, such as by releasing its jailed political opponents -- especially Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from her house detention.
Last year's incidents in Myanmar proved that such a call is indeed still valid and it will still be valid until the domestic situation in that country moves toward democracy.
The violent crackdown and the junta's brutality against the peaceful demonstrations of the Buddhist monks -- who were supported by the Myanmarese people -- were well documented and widely known throughout the international community, yet the junta recently tried to fool the world by announcing a so-called general election.
Regrettably some ASEAN leaders have expressed their readiness to cooperate with the junta and welcomed the last false referendum and the planned election as "real" progress. It is a shameful act and betrays the people of Burma/Myanmar. They don't really care about the sufferings of the people who have been oppressed by the military junta for almost two decades.
Indeed, we cannot just sit back and wait until the situation improves. Action must be taken because there has been no serious will from the military junta to work for a peaceful solution to Myanmar's problems.
With this appeal, the international community needs to work together and have a untied stand to put more pressure on Myanmar. The Indonesian government, in this case, supports the efforts of democratization and reconciliation. In his meeting with UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said it was necessary to push for Myanmar's reconciliation process from many aspects.
However, the Indonesian government believes that those aspects that must be advocated in Myanmar are not only related to democracy and human rights, but also to security and stability as potential threats to Myanmar's disintegration. This is the way to handle Myanmar's psychological issues, especially with the sense of insecurity and inconvenience of the ruling government in the context of the new Myanmar.
The Indonesian government also strongly supports Gambari's mission to solve Myanmar's problems within UN's framework and Indonesia will ensure that the issue remains on the UN Security Council's agenda.
In addition, Indonesia urges the Chinese and Indian governments to do more to convince Myanmar to improve its dismal human rights record. We believe it is important to enlist the help of these two nations to convince the junta to fulfill its promise to embrace democracy.
Within the ASEAN context, especially in its relations between the Myanmar issue and the signing of the ASEAN Charter in Singapore last year or its finalization later this year (probably) in Thailand, many have expressed concerns as to whether the charter will work as expected, especially after the recent troubles in that member country. The Indonesian parliament, for example, has expressed its concern over several of the ASEAN Charter's articles -- a legally binding treaty that regulates relations among the 10 members of ASEAN.
Recent reports of senior officials meeting in Denpasar, Bali, in preparation for the upcoming ASEAN summit produced discouraging news. The members of the high-level panel have yet to agree on the official name of the human rights body. Some reports suggest that many countries in ASEAN are more interested in the "promotion" rather than the "protection" of human rights.
Sihasak Phuangketkeow, a senior Thai diplomat who chaired the meeting said that human rights promotion and protection would be an evolutionary process given the differences of the ASEAN members, in terms of their diversities, stages of development and political awareness.
Thus, member countries do not expect too much on the protection of human rights from within ASEAN, let alone its ability to maintain peace and security in the region. Myanmar will be the biggest offender, and the crimes committed by the junta will go unpunished.
Indonesia acknowledges that ASEANS's diplomatic efforts to prod Myanmar to rapidly democratize have failed. ASEAN has recognized that its constructive engagement has not produced any tangible results. But sanctions and pressures by western countries have also failed.
Within the ASEAN Parliamentary, the Myanmar tragedy is a catastrophe for the region. The Parliamentarians urge their governments to take strong actions and recognize the seriousness of the human security problems caused by the Myanmar regime. We must be as one to end the misery and sufferings of the Myanmar people.
The writer is member of the Indonesian House of Representatives and Chairman of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary on Myanmar Caucus.
Online writers future targets
http://thenutgraph.com/article-1235.html
10 Dec 08 : 8.00AM
By Elizabeth Looi
elizabethlooi@thenutgraph.com
PETALING JAYA, 10 Dec 2008: Online journalists and bloggers may face greater scrutiny in the future compared to traditional media workers, warns human rights group Aliran.
Its joint coordinator Mustafa K Anuar said this future scenario was likely, as some bloggers here have already been hauled up or detained for their postings.
Mustafa, who is from Charter2000-Aliran, admitted that although there were bloggers who relied on unverified sources for stories, there were also those who were careful with their stories, analyses and comments.
"It is these online writers and bloggers that the powers-that-be are concerned about, especially if these writers are able to side-step the official censorship mechanisms and at the same time command a sizeable following," he told The Nut Graph in a telephone interview.
Mustafa was commenting on a report by New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on imprisoned journalists.
The non-profit organisation found that more online journalists and bloggers were jailed compared to those in other media. Some 45% of media workers jailed worldwide in 2008, as of 1 Dec, were bloggers, web-based reporters, or online editors.
China had the highest number of journalists and bloggers who were jailed, followed by Cuba and Burma, the report stated. Malaysia was not included in the survey.
(image source: wikipedia.org)
Mustafa felt that the CPJ findings did not reflect the local situation. Although there have been a few cases of bloggers being targeted by the authorities, in general, online journalists here do not face as high a possibility of persecution as some of the countries mentioned in the CPJ report.
"Having said that, I believe that these (limited Malaysian) cases are meant to warn other bloggers and online writers who might have the penchant for news-breaking stories, incisive analyses and critical commentaries about the Malaysian socio-political situation," he said.
Among the prominent bloggers who were arrested this year were Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin and Syed Azidi Syed Aziz, who is known as Kickdefella.
Raja Petra was arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) on 12 Sept 2008 and sentenced to two years in the Kamunting Detention Centre. But he was released on 7 Nov. Syed Azidi, on the other hand, ran afoul of the Sedition Act when he suggested flying the Jalur Gemilang upside down on his blog. The blogger, whose case is still pending, is out on bail.
Writer Alliance for Media Independence (Wami) chairperson Wong Chin Huat told The Nut Graph that it would be better for Malaysia to produce its own national media freedom report.
He felt that the methodology used by most international media freedom reports may not be suitable or fair as a yardstick to measure media freedom in Malaysia.
But generally, Wong was pessimistic about the future of online media here.
"Until and unless we can change the paradigm of our thinking, our freedom will be limited.
"But based on my observations, we have more freedom now to talk about ethnic-related issues, for example, or to criticise a political leader, compared to 10 years ago," he noted.
Reported Myanmar Landmine Deaths Double - Group
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20081209%5cACQDJON200812090455DOWJONESDJONLINE000127.htm&&mypage=newsheadlines&title=Reported%20Myanmar%20Landmine%20Deaths%20Double%20-%20Group
BANGKOK (AFP)--Reported deaths in Myanmar from landmines more than doubled in a year, as both the military government and armed rebel groups continue to lay the lethal ordnance, a monitoring group said Tuesday.
The Landmine Monitor's 2008 report found that 47 people in Myanmar were killed by mines in 2007, up from 20 people in 2006, while 338 people were injured - 115 more than a year earlier.
"Globally there are very few governments using this weapon any longer - that is not the case in Myanmar," said Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, research coordinator with global watchdog Landmine Monitor.
He said that Myanmar was one of the only countries in the world where the state was consistently "using them on a widespread basis."
Moser-Puangsuwan stressed that the hike in deaths could be the result of better reporting rather than increased use of mines, but said the figure was also likely an underestimation as it did not cover military casualties.
"This is basically a civilian figure. The figure is certainly higher," he told reporters in Bangkok.
Myanmar's junta has for decades been battling insurgencies by armed ethnic rebel groups, mostly in remote border areas.
The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962, often justifying its tight grip on power by insisting that only the generals are able to suppress the rebellions and prevent the nation from splintering.
Civilians are often caught up in the fighting, with human rights groups documenting widespread abuses by the armed forces including torture, forced labor, killings, arbitrary arrest and the destruction of villages.
Human Rights Watch has accused the military of planting mines around rice crops and routes to fields in an effort to hamper the annual harvest, effectively starving civilians off their land in insurgency-hit areas.
Moser-Puangsuwan said Landmine Monitor had also received disturbing reports of prisoners being forced to clear landmines "without protective gear, without any training, and sometimes with their bodies alone."
Many rebel groups have reached ceasefire agreements with the junta, but others battle on. The Karen National Union has been waging its insurgency since 1949, and Landmine Monitor said it continued to plant mines.
The group said it also had reports of land mine use by organizations including the Shan State Army - believed to be the largest rebel movement - the Karenni Army, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and the United Wa State Army.
Myanmar is not a party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty.
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60 Anniversary of Human Rights days Photos -Tokyo-Japan
Please click the photo to see more photos.
ဓါတ္ပုံအားလုံးကိုႀကည့္ရန္ ေအာက္ပါပုံကို ကလစ္လုပ္ပါ။
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| 60th.Anniversay of Human Right Demo in TOKYO-JAPAN |
PHOTOS BY U THAN WIN-BDA-FWUBC
For more photos from U THAN WIN please open the following link.
http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/uthanwin2006
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| 60 anniversary of human rights days -tokyo-japan |
PHOTOS BY PHONE HLAING -PEACEFUL BURMA MEDIA
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 60
http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/eng.htm
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, therefore,
The General Assembly,
Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11
Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 13
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 14
Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15
Everyone has the right to a nationality.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16
Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17
Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20
Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21
Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country.
The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23
Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26
Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
Article 27
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29
Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
PROFILE
Native Name
English
Total Speakers
322,000,000 (1995)
Usage by Country
Europe -
Official Language: Gibraltar, Ireland, Malta, United Kingdom
Asia -
Official Language: India, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore
Africa -
Official Language: Botswana, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
Central and South America -
Official Language: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Br. Virgin Isl.s, Dominica, Falklands, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, US Virging Islands
North America -
Official Language: Canada, USA
Oceania -
Official Language: American Samoa, Australia, Belau, Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Islands, Northern Mariannas, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Western Samoa.
Background
It belongs to the Indo-European family, Germanic group, West Germanic subgroup and is the official language of over 1.7 billion people. Home speakers are over 330 million. As regards the evolution of the English language, three main phases can be distinguished. From the 6th and 5th centuries B.C., the Celtics are believed to have lived in the place where we now call Britain. Britain first appeared in the historical records as Julius Caesar campaigned there in 55-54 B.C. Britain was conquered in 43 A.D. and remained under the Roman occupation until 410 A.D. Then came from the European Continent the Germanic tribes, who spoke the languages belonging to the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. First the Jutes from Jutland (present-day Denmark) in the 3rd century A.D., then in the 5th century, the Saxons from Friesland, Frisian Islands and north-west Germany, finally the Angles, from present-day Schleswig-Holstein (a German Land) who settled north of the Thames. The words "England" and "English", come from the word, "Angles". During the Old English period of 450-1,100 A.D. (first phase), Britain experienced the spread of Christianity, and, from the 8th century, the invasion and occupation by the Vikings, called the "Danes." The most important event of the second phase, the Middle English period (1100-1500 A.D.) was the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Normans were the North Men, meaning the Vikings from Scandinavia, settled in the Normandy region of France from the 9th century, who had assimilated themselves to the French language and culture. English was much influenced by French during this time. During the third phase, the Modern English period (1500 onwards), English spread to the world as the British Empire colonised many lands. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) lived in this period, and in 1755 Samuel Johnson completed "A Dictionary of the English Language" with about 40,000 entries, which contributed to the standardisation of the English language. The English language which spread to the world created many of its variants, the most prominent of which is American English. The American English writing system is said to owe much to Noah Webster's "An American Dictionary of the English Language" which was completed in 1828. Other important varieties include Indian English, Australian English, and many English-based Creoles and Pidgins.
Received: 19980525
Posted: 19980720
Checked: 19981112
Tsunami
http://bimbel-padi-bekasi.blogspot.com/2008/12/tsunami.html
A tsunami is a series of waves created when a body of water, such as an ocean, is rapidly displaced. Earthquakes, mass movements above or below water, some volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions, landslides, underwater earthquakes, large asteroid impacts and detonation of nuclear weapons at sea all have the potential to generate a tsunami. Due to the immense volumes of water and energy involved, the effects of tsunami can be devastating. Since meteorites are small, they will not generate tsunami.
The Greek historian Thucydides was the first to relate tsunami to submarine quakes,but understanding of the nature of tsunami remained slim until the 20th century and is the subject of ongoing research.Many early geological, geographic, oceanographic etc., texts refer to "Seismic sea waves"—these are now referred to as "tsunami".Some meteorological storm conditions—deep depressions causing cyclones, hurricanes—can generate a storm surge which can be several metres above normal tide levels. This is due to the low atmospheric pressure within the centre of the depression. As these storm surges come ashore the surge can resemble a tsunami, inundating vast areas of land. These are not tsunami. Such a storm surge inundated Burma-Myanmar in May 2008.
Tsunami in history
Historically speaking, tsunami are not rare, with at least 25 tsunami occurring in the last century. Of these, many were recorded in the Asia–Pacific region—particularly Japan. The Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 caused approximately 350,000 deaths and many more injuries.
As early as 426 B.C. the Greek historian Thucydides inquired in his book History of the Peloponnesian War about the causes of tsunami, and argued correctly that it could only be explained as a consequence of ocean earthquakes. He was thus the first in the history of natural science to correlate quakes and waves in terms of cause and effect:
The cause, in my opinion, of this phenomenon must be sought in the earthquake. At the point where its shock has been the most violent the sea is driven back, and suddenly recoiling with redoubled force, causes the inundation. Without an earthquake I do not see how such an accident could happen.
The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (Res Gestae 26.10.15-19) describes the typical sequence of a tsunami including an incipient earthquake, the sudden retreat of the sea and a following gigantic wave on the occasion of the 365 A.D. tsunami devastating Alexandria.
Causes
A tsunami can be generated when converging or destructive plate boundaries abruptly move and vertically displace the overlying water. It is very unlikely that they can form at divergent (constructive) or conservative plate boundaries. This is because constructive or conservative boundaries do not generally disturb the vertical displacement of the water column. Subduction zone related earthquakes generate the majority of all tsunamis.
A tsunami has a much smaller amplitude (wave height) offshore, and a very long wavelength (often hundreds of kilometers long), which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a slight swell usually about 300 mm above the normal sea surface. A tsunami can occur at any state of the tide and even at low tide will still inundate coastal areas if the incoming waves surge high enough.
On April 1, 1946 a Magnitude 7.8 (Richter Scale) earthquake occurred near the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. It generated a tsunami which inundated Hilo on the island of Hawai'i with a 14 m high surge. The area where the earthquake occurred is where the Pacific Ocean floor is subducting (or being pushed downwards) under Alaska.
Examples of tsunami being generated at locations away from convergent boundaries include Storegga during the Neolithic era, Grand Banks 1929, Papua New Guinea 1998 (Tappin, 2001). In the case of the Grand Banks and Papua New Guinea tsunamis an earthquake caused sediments to become unstable and subsequently fail. These slumped and as they flowed down slope a tsunami was generated. These tsunami did not travel transoceanic distances.
It is not known what caused the Storegga sediments to fail. It may have been due to overloading of the sediments causing them to become unstable and they then failed solely as a result of being overloaded. It is also possible that an earthquake caused the sediments to become unstable and then fail. Another theory is that a release of gas hydrates (methane etc.,) caused the slump.The "Great Chilean earthquake" (19:11 hrs UTC) May 22, 1960 (9.5 Mw), the March 27, 1964 "Good Friday earthquake" Alaska 1964 (9.2 Mw), and the "Great Sumatra-Andaman earthquake" (00:58:53 UTC) December 26, 2004 (9.2 Mw), are recent examples of powerful megathrust earthquakes that generated a tsunami that was able to cross oceans. Smaller (4.2 Mw) earthquakes in Japan can trigger tsunami that can devastate nearby coasts within 15 minutes or less.
In the 1950s it was hypothesised that larger tsunamis than had previously been believed possible may be caused by landslides, explosive volcanic action e.g., Santorini, Krakatau, and impact events when they contact water. These phenomena rapidly displace large volumes of water, as energy from falling debris or expansion is transferred to the water into which the debris falls at a rate faster than the ocean water can absorb it. They have been named by the media as "mega-tsunami."Tsunami caused by these mechanisms, unlike the trans-oceanic tsunami caused by some earthquakes, may dissipate quickly and rarely affect coastlines distant from the source due to the small area of sea affected. These events can give rise to much larger local shock waves (solitons), such as the landslide at the head of Lituya Bay 1958, which produced a wave with an initial surge estimated at 524 m. However, an extremely large gravitational landslide might generate a so called "mega-tsunami" that may have the ability to travel trans-oceanic distances. This though is strongly debated and there is no actual geological evidence to support this hypothesis.
Characteristics
While everyday wind waves have a wavelength (from crest to crest) of about 100 m (300 ft) and a height of roughly 2 m (7 ft), a tsunami in the deep ocean has a wavelength of about 200 km (120 miles). This wave travels at well over 800 km/h (500 mph), but due to the enormous wavelength the wave oscillation at any given point takes 20 or 30 minutes to complete a cycle and has an amplitude of only about 1 m (3 ft). This makes tsunamis difficult to detect over deep water. Their passage usually goes unnoticed by ships.
As the tsunami approaches the coast and the waters become shallow, the wave is compressed due to wave shoaling and its forward travel slows below 80 km/h (50 mph). Its wavelength diminishes to less than 20 km (12 miles) and its amplitude grows enormously, producing a distinctly visible wave. Since the wave still has a wavelength on the order of several km (a few miles), the tsunami may take minutes to ramp up to full height, with victims seeing a massive deluge of rising ocean rather than a cataclysmic wall of water. Open bays and coastlines adjacent to very deep water may shape the tsunami further into a step-like wave with a steep breaking front.
Terminology
The term tsunami comes from the Japanese meaning harbor ("tsu", 津) and wave ("nami", 波). [a. Jap. tsunami, tunami, f. tsu harbour + nami waves.—Oxford English Dictionary]. For the plural, one can either follow ordinary English practice and add an s, or use an invariable plural as in Japanese. Tsunami are common throughout Japanese history; approximately 195 events in Japan have been recorded.
Tsunami are sometimes referred to as tidal waves, a term that has fallen out of favor, especially in the scientific community, in recent years because tsunami actually have nothing to do with tides. The once popular term derives from their most common appearance, which is that of an extraordinarily high incoming tide. Tsunami and tides both produce waves of water that move inland, but in the case of tsunami the inland movement of water is much greater and lasts for a longer period, giving the impression of an incredibly high tide. Although the meanings of "tidal" include "resembling" or "having the form or character of" the tides, and the term tsunami is no more accurate because tsumanis are not limited to harbours, use of the term tidal wave is discouraged by geologists and oceanographers.The only other language than Japanese that has a word for this disastrous wave is Tamil language,(dubious – discuss) and the word is "Aazhi Peralai". South Eastern coasts of India have experienced these waves some 700 years before and was a regular event by that time as per the stone carvings (scriptures in stone) read.
Signs of an approaching tsunami
There is often no advance warning of an approaching tsunami. However, since earthquakes are often a cause of tsunami, any earthquake occurring near a body of water may generate a tsunami if it occurs at shallow depth, is of moderate or high magnitude, and the water volume and depth is sufficient.
If the first part of a tsunami to reach land is a trough (draw back) rather than a crest of the wave, the water along the shoreline may recede dramatically, exposing areas that are normally always submerged. This can serve as an advance warning of the approaching tsunami which will rush in faster than it is possible to run. If a person is in a coastal area where the sea suddenly draws back (many survivors report an accompanying sucking sound), their only real chance of survival is to run for high ground or seek the high floors of high rise buildings.In the 2004 tsunami that occurred in the Indian Ocean drawback was not reported on the African coast or any other eastern coasts it inundated, when the tsunami approached from the east. This was because of the nature of the wave—it moved downwards on the eastern side of the fault line and upwards on the western side. It was the western pulse that inundated coastal areas of Africa and other western areas.
About 80% of all tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean, but are possible wherever large bodies of water are found, including inland lakes. They may be caused by landslides, volcanic explosions, bolides and seismic activity.Indian Ocean Tsunami According to an article in "Geographical" magazine (April 2008), the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004 was not the worst that the region could expect. Professor Costas Synolakis of the Tsunami Research Center at the University of Southern California co-authored a paper in "Geophysical Journal International" which suggests that a future tsunami in the Indian Ocean basin could affect locations such as Madagascar, Singapore, Somalia, Western Australia and many others. The Boxing Day tsunami killed over 300,000 people with many bodies either being lost to the sea or unidentified. Some unofficial estimates have claimed that approximately 1 million people may have died directly or indirectly solely as a result of the tsunami.
Japan's recession worse than thought: official data
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081209/bs_afp/japaneconomygrowth_081209004130
Mon Dec 8, 7:41 pm ET
TOKYO (AFP) – Japan's economy shrank 0.5 percent in the third quarter of this year, sinking much deeper into recession than previously thought, official figures showed Tuesday.
Asia's largest economy contracted 1.8 percent on an annualised basis in the three months to September, when Japan entered its first recession in seven years with a second straight quarter of negative growth, the government said.
An initial estimate last month had shown the Japanese economy shrank 0.1 percent in the third quarter, and 0.4 percent on an annualised basis.
Weak business investment was the main culprit for the revision as companies slashed investment in new equipment and factories by 2.0 percent, compared with an initial estimate of 1.7 percent.
Japan's export-dependent economy was also hit by sluggish exports as the global financial crisis hit international trade.
The latest snapshot of the Japanese economy was even more gloomier than analyst forecasts for a contraction of about 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter.
The government said the economy shrank a revised 1.0 percent in the second quarter, which was also slightly worse than previously thought.
Japan has relied on brisk exports of cars, electronics and other goods to drive its recovery from recession in the 1990s.
But it has seen exports weaken in recent months due to worsening demand in recession-hit overseas economies.
Copyright © 2008 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.
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Almost Half Of Journalists In Jail Are Online Reporters
http://www.rferl.org/content/Almost_Half_Of_Journalists_In_Jail_Are_Online_Reporters/1357762.html
Imprisoned Azerbaijani journalist Eynulla Fatullayev in a Baku court in October 2007
December 09, 2008
In its annual survey of journalists in prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found that almost half of all media workers in jail are bloggers, web reporters, or online editors.
The CPJ says the findings reflect the rising influence of online reporting and commentary.
The CPJ says it found 125 journalists behind bars as of December 1, a decrease of two from 2007. Fifty-six of those are online journalists.
"The future of journalism is online," says CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon, "and we are now in a battle with the enemies of press freedom who are using imprisonment to define the limits of public discourse."
China is the world's worst jailer of journalists, with 28 in prison, followed by Cuba (21), Burma (14), Eritrea (13), and Uzbekistan (6).
Other countries in RFE/RL's broadcast area that are imprisoning journalists are Azerbaijan (5), Iran (5), Russia (2), Armenia (1), Afghanistan (1), Iraq-in U.S. custody (1), and Iraq-in custody in the Kurdistan region (1).
You can read detailed accounts of each imprisoned journalist on the CPJ's website.
Singapore: dirty money, no questions asked
http://taxjustice.blogspot.com/2008/12/singapore-asias-dirty-casino.html
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Singapore: dirty money, no questions asked
A fascinating series of three articles has just appeared on a political party web site in Singapore, looking at its emergence into what it is today: a big, dirty Asian tax haven. The series was written by a leading Singapore dissident, Chee Soon Juan, secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Pary, who has been imprisoned several times for his anti-establishment views.
These well researched and well-written articles are all well, well worth reading - and though we've said that of a fair few reports, we'd highlight these ones in particular. Part I looks at the emergence of Singapore as a tax haven; Part II looks at how tax havens affect the world's economies, and Part III examines whether foreign funds parked there have benefited locals.
So how did Singapore come to be a secrecy jurisdiction (or a tax haven, if you will.)?
"Circa 1998 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, the Government decided to make Singapore the financial capital of Asia, if not the world. At about that time Switzerland, the Mecca of secretive banking, came under pressure from the European Union to amend its laws to enable greater financial transparency and to provide information to on accounts suspected to belong to tax evaders from other European nations.
The (Singapore) Government saw the opportunity and introduced legislation to tighten up secrecy protections in our financial institutions to attract investors and account holders fleeing Switzerland."
This is it, in a nutshell. As regards Europe, the article is referring to the EU Savings Tax Directive, which is currently in the process of being tightened. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's Prime Minister from 1959 to 1990, made some telling remarks in a memoir (which this blogger happens to have on his bookshelf.)
"In the early years from 1968 to 1985, we had the field all to ourselves in the regin. We attracted international financial institutions by abolishing witholding tax on interest income earned by non-resident depositors. All Asian dollar deposits were exempted from statutory liquidity and reserve requirements. By the 1990s, Singapore had become one of the larger financial centres of the world . . . .
Singapore's financial centre was considered over-regulated compared to Hong Kong's. Critics wrote: "in Hong Kong, what is not expressly forbidden is permitted; in Singapore, what is not expressly permitted is forbidden. . . . Only after the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) had demonstrated the strength of its system to weather the financial crisis of 1987 and 1997-98 did I feel confident enough to move closer to a position where what is not expressly forbidden is permitted."
Note two things about this statement. First, his description of a move towards deregulation is expressive of the tax haven mentality. Second, that the reforms happened after the crisis: it was Singapore's "over-regulated" banking system that weathered the crisis.
Back to Chee Soon Juan's article, which continues:
"In 2001 Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, then deputy prime minister, finance minister and chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore all rolled into one, met with bankers from all over the world to discuss how Singapore could tailor its laws to become a premier banking centre.
Following the consultations, he introduced amendments to the Banking Act to revise secrecy provisions so that "only very few exceptions have been allowed for the disclosure of information relating to a customer's deposit and funds placed for investment" and that "a person who receives customer information will be required by law to keep the information confidential." The penalty for breaking such a law is a fine of up to $125,000 or 3-years' jail or both.
In 2004, trust laws were amended to allow foreigners, especially Europeans, to avoid laws in their home countries that regulate inheritance of an estate by family members."
The article then describes the huge asset growth in Singapore's banking system, rising from $150bn in 1998 to $1.173 trillion by the end of last year, and then looks into a curious website offering offshore services through Singapore, but doesn't reveal anywhere who is running it (though an anonymous commenter under Part 1 seems to have traced the web site to someone in Germany).
"Its front page pictures a gentleman cupping his chin as if in deep contemplation - but doesn't tell us who he is."
So how dirty is Singapore? Well, we only have anecdote (which tends to be the way with tax havens,) but try these:
"Not only have tax evaders found a haven in Singapore, money-launderers are also flocking to the city-state. Former chief economist at Morgan Stanley, Andy Xie, wrote in a private email that was inadvertently leaked to the public, said that Singapore's financial success "came mostly from being the money laundering center for corrupt Indonesian businessmen and government officials.''
In 2006, now bankrupt Merrill Lynch and Capgemini reported that the number of "super-rich" Indonesians living in Singapore is a staggering 18,000 whose wealth amounts to approximately US$87 billion. Much of this wealth, complains the Indonesian Government, came from illegal activities in Indonesia. Xie added that in order to sustain its economy, Singapore was resorting to "building casinos to attract corruption money from China."
Corrupt ruling generals in Burma are also suspected to be stashing their assets in Singapore, leading many to criticise the PAP Government following the Burmese regime's crackdown on monks and civilian protesters in 2007.
Not too long ago, a friend of mine from Cambodia intimated to me a story about four women, all single, from Phnom Penh depositing $80 million between them in Singapore banks. No questions asked. "Four single women? $80 million? From Cambodia which is dirt poor?" she asked with a mixture if rhetoric and incredulity, "And no one here bothers to ask how they got the money?" In case anyone thinks that the remark carried sexist overtones, my friend was female and a hard champion of equal rights for women.""
And you might find the description of the activities of a former chief of an Italian bank curious too. And, as is also usual with the secrecy jurisdictions, the government claims that
"our banking and financial system is open and transparent, and our rules vigorously enforced."
And of course, no protestation from a tax haven would be complete without the "we are not a tax haven" assertion, in Part II:
"Singapore is not a tax haven," Foreign Minister George Yeo insists, "We are a low-tax country but not a tax haven. We're an international financial centre so banking secrecy is very important. It is protected by law."
Of course, of course. And the article note just how very wrong he is.
"Singapore has been adamant in its non-cooperation. Even the chairman of the Swiss Bankers' Association, Mr Urs Roth, is pointing (hypocritical) fingers at Singapore. Comparing his country and ours, Mr Roth noted that Singapore's banking secrecy provisions are even stronger than the ones in Switzerland. . . the Singapore Government has played the role of Switizerland's heir apparent to perfection."
As if all that weren't enough - try Part III. It starts with this question - one of the quintessential tax haven questions:
"Why should Singaporeans care? Isn't it good that we have become fabulously rich from all the money pouring in to our banks? Clean money, dirty money, it's still money. We get to use it and that's all that matters."
And they have an answer. One part of it starts like this:
"For all the hoopla about our economic prowess, we have an income disparity that is akin to those of Third World countries: Our Gini coefficient among employed households, a measure of income inequality, has been rising through the years. Its figure of 48.5 is between developing countries like Argentina (49) and Ecuador (46), and almost double that of European countries like Sweden, Denmark and Germany. It is even higher that those of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (non tax haven Asian economies) which have Ginis around the mid-30 mark."
And then look at the remarkable graph (click on it to enlarge it): it shows inequality rising sharply, just as the assets under management in Singapore rise sharply. (As an aside, to any academics out there - why not start studying this, on a worldwide basis? More research needed on different countries, and fast.)
Now this stuff about Gini coefficients may sound like dull economist-speak, but for real people with real lives, it can be shattering. But here's another way of talking about it:
"We see the ultra-luxurious property at Sentosa Cove, the Bentleys and Maseratis zooming around on our streets, and immediately think that Singaporeans are more than a fortunate lot. Not quite. Such trappings are built for and owned by overseas financial magnates . . . while these super-rich foreigners live it up here Singaporeans, especially those in the lower income bracket, see their fortunes go in the other direction.
. . .
Between 1998 and 2003, the average household monthly income of the poorest 20 percent of the population decreased by nearly 15 percent while the richest 20 percent increased by 11.7 percent. In that same period, while the average wage dropped for the poorest 40 percent of households, their expenditure continued to outstrip their income
. . .
Does all this money do you any good? Look at our other blogs on this subject - here and here, for example, and see the parallels. Expatriates call Singapore "one of the least stressful places in the region" while
"Locals, on the other hand, find the city one of the most stressful places o live in. As a result, among the various Asian societies, Singaporeans are most likely to have suffered depression, stress, and fatigue. Another study showed that job-related stresses continue to be the biggest problems for working Singaporeans. Because of the system, an increasing number of adult Singaporeans are driven to seek the help of mental professionals due to financial woes. Marriages are also being torn apart because of economic pressures at home."
Reading through this, while chatting on Skype with today's blogger, TJN's director John Christensen exclaimed, after reading this paragraph, that "This sounds just like Jersey."
This whole article is full of more good stuff. We won't reproduce too much more of it here: read it yourself. Look at the section entitled "Ethics-shmethics. Money is money," for example.
But we will highlight one part of this, which is absolutely crucial, and fits exactly with the atmosphere of intimidation that we have encountered in so many parts of the world.
"The Government made the decision to turn Singapore into a tax haven because it was the easy thing to do. All it needed was some skilfull rewriting of the law and a handsome advertising campaign to lure big, and often dirty, money to our banks.
Of course the alternative economic strategy, as discussed below, is not politically viable, at least not for the PAP (Singapore ruling party, which won 82 of 84 seats in the last parliamentary elections). Fostering dynamism and creativity means having to open up the political space which the PAP is loathe to do. The combination of making money on Easy Street while remaining solidly authoritarian was an opportunity too delicious to pass up."
And therein lies the problem. It is true in Britain - until the economic crisis hit, it has been politically very difficult to criticise Britain's tax haven model and be taken seriously.
What should Singapore do to change? The article's authors make many suggestions, but here is a crucial one, we feel:
"We also need to democratise our political economy. This means that Singaporeans must be allowed to become the drivers of economic growth rather than the Government. Private enterprise, and not the GLCs, must lead our economy. If Singapore develops politically and its citizens find their rightful place in society, we will have the foundations of a system that is free and enterprising, one that will stimulate the entrepreneurial mind."
To end this blog, a few general comments.
Part II quotes the chairman of the Swiss Bankers' Association, who pointed out that while Singapore is not getting as much attention at the moment compared to Switzerland "I would guess that it is a question of time." Jeffrey Owens of the OECD (whom we blogged very recently) summed up the matter for Singapore cogently:
"The political climate is changing and I do not think that Singapore is correctly reading the political signs that a change is about to come."
Take a look, too, at the comments underneath these stories. Here are just a few of many.
"Let's wait and see whether LKY and sissy Loong will start suing Any Xei and Dr. Chee."
"fast wealth is a shaky foundation to build on and the social cost is very costly."
"We Singaporeans are fed up with the main stream media propaganda of reporting and sugarcoating the news."
"For the US it is that simple, if any countries that refuse to co-perate with them in combating tax evation, then they would not renew licences for those banks with their head office in those countires to operate in the USA."
"The international community must slap PAP with some financial sanctions"
And several more in this vein, many of them stronger than these.
The kinds of comments above are the voices of ordinary Singaporeans. We agree with them. And we call on the EU and the United States, and a few others who are at last starting to show some activism in this area, to listen to them. And to put Singapore squarely in their sights.
posted by TJN at 1:19 AM
Obama urged to step up efforts in confronting genocide -MIZZIMA
http://www.mizzima.com/news/world/1413-obama-urged-to-step-up-efforts-in-confronting-genocide.html
by Mizzima News
Tuesday, 09 December 2008 16:51
A policy report compiled for the incoming Obama administration appeals for the prioritization in U.S. foreign policy of combating genocide around the globe, although it is uncertain what ramifications the incorporated recommendations may have regarding Burma.
Preventing Genocide, released on Monday in Washington, D.C. and compiled by a distinguished task force, aims to carve out an effective U.S. policy in both preventing and responding to cases of genocide around the world. The report argues that it is imperative for the U.S. to take stronger action in the face of genocide as such a stance corresponds with both American values and interests.
Though the report does not make use of case studies, numerous analysts and organizations label the existing situation in Eastern Burma genocide, as the Burmese Army continues with its attacks and coercive policies against local ethnic minority populations.
According to the Genocide Prevention Network, over 650,000 people have been displaced and some 3,500 villages destroyed in Eastern Burma, an area of the world that the international genocide watchdog identifies as a region of concern.
Confronting genocide is of definitive national interest to the U.S., argues the paper, as genocide is said to fuel instability, creating weaker states which in turn can have a spillover effect across international boundaries in areas such as refugee flows.
The assessment certainly holds true for Burma, which has seen millions flee to neighboring Thailand, China, Bangladesh and India, abetting often insecure border situations and facilitating in the transfer of both illicit goods and infectious disease.
However, the policy study seems to offer little hope for a structurally enhanced U.S. effort in confronting genocide in Eastern Burma, barring a drastic shift in policy adopted by the incoming Obama administration.
Ominously, and pertinently in the case of Burma, the report's authors caution: "Geographically remote countries that are autocratically governed and have limited integration into the global economy are generally harder targets to influence through diplomatic and economic means."
Potential success of the U.S. playing a vital role in rolling back genocide is further said to heavily rely upon the relationship of the state in question with both its neighbors and major powers.
There can be little question that Burma is geographically removed from the traditional U.S. sphere of influence and that the Southeast Asian country is autocratically ruled and largely exists outside the integrated global economy. Additionally, the foreign policy's of regional countries vis-à-vis Burma, including major powers China and India, are well documented to often be at odds with that of the U.S.
Ultimately, in situations such as that in Eastern Burma, the study concludes, "Military options are especially relevant when opportunities for prevention have been lost."
Having already exhausted most coercive tools at its disposal with respect to Burma, including sanctions and legal charges, it would appear that the only outlet remaining for the U.S. is "military options."
Military options are in turn defined as not only those aimed against the perpetrators, but additionally said to include military assistance to opposition forces opposing the guilty party.
However, it is also said to be important to understand the potential limitations of relying too heavily, or even singularly, on coercive measures, as the U.S. "should not dismiss the potential benefits of rewarding 'bad people' for 'good behavior'."
In the end, any decision by a U.S. administration to use military force to intervene in situations of genocide is understood to be a "fundamentally political decision," reflecting national security interests, domestic politics and the international system.
And regarding the international system, the report hints there must first be a change within the United Nations, which as it currently operates is said to stand little chance of authorizing the use of force in cases such as that in Burma. This is a crucial obstacle, as the report's authors also emphasize the need for a multilateral approach if a military option is to be pursued.
The task force that compiled the 174-page report was co-chaired by Madeleine Albright and William Cohen.
Albright, who met with Burmese democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 1997, is an outspoken critic of the situation in Burma and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of State, while Cohen previously served as Secretary of Defense.
The report was co-sponsored by the U.S. Institute for Peace, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and The American Academy of Diplomacy. < Prev Next >
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