Reporting on Conflict | Media Watch Blog

• News source:
• 31 October 2007
• Ekklesia
• By Staff

Several weeks after a brutal crackdown on thousands of democracy protesters across Burma, over a hundred Buddhist monks have taken part in the first public demonstration in northern Burma since the government’s wave of repression.

In Pakokku the monks marched silently, in a way described by observers as “highly dignified”, and issued no slogans.

One protester told the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based short-wave radio station and website run by dissident journalists, that the walk was intended as a continuation of the protests last month.

Analysts say that the march is a sign that the depths of popular dissent and unrest are still present in the country, in spite of the military crackdown.

• News source:
• 31 October 2007
• Reuters AlertNet
• By Human Rights Watch

New York – Facing a military staffing crisis, the Burmese government is forcibly recruiting many children, some as young as age 10, into its armed forces, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Burmese military recruiters target children in order to meet unrelenting demands for new recruits due to continued army expansion, high desertion rates and a lack of willing volunteers.

• News source:
• 31 October 2007
• Reuters AlertNet
• By Gerard Wynn

LONDON – A surge in investment in solar power is bringing down costs of the alternative energy source, but affordability problems still dog hopes for the 1.6 billion people worldwide without electricity.

The sun supplies only a tiny fraction — less than one tenth of 1 percent — of mankind’s energy needs. But its supporters believe a solar era may be dawning, boosted by western funding to combat oil “addiction” and climate change.

Governments from Japan to Germany and the United States are helping the public wean themselves off fossil fuels…

For Reuters latest environment blogs click on: http://blogs.reuters.com/environment

• News source:
• 31 October 2007
• ICG Africa Report N°133
• Africa Report N°133
• By International Crisis Group

North Kivu is again a crucible of conflict in Congo. Since fighting resumed between the insurgents of Laurent Nkunda and the national army in December 2006, over 370,000 civilians have been displaced in the province. Due to the failure of the latest attempt to integrate Nkunda’s troops into the army, the crisis has become much worse since May 2007. UN attempts to impose a ceasefire and appoint a special envoy to mediate have failed. President Joseph Kabila’s 15 October decision to suspend offensive operations and his subsequent call on all Congolese armed groups in the region to present themselves for disarmament or army integration is welcome but fighting continues, and there is no real dialogue with Nkunda. A comprehensive initiative needs to be launched urgently to de-escalate the crisis and address the root causes of the conflict.

• News source:
• October 2007
• USIPeace Briefing
• By Leigh Toomey and J Alexander Thier

A legitimate, functioning and coherent justice system is urgently needed to establish peace and stability in post-Taliban Afghanistan. After three decades of war, continued insecurity, endemic corruption, and lack of resources hobble the formal justice system. Informal, community-based dispute resolution mechanisms—which are more readily accessible and understood than formal courts by most Afghans, particularly outside urban areas—are widely used to resolve both civil and criminal matters. These mechanisms are critical to maintaining stability within communities, and at present handle over 80 percent of disputes in Afghanistan. At the same time, informal or traditional practices may fall short of due process and human rights standards.

• News source:
• September 2007
• ReliefWeb
• By Acronym Institute

A detailed analysis of recent progress in raising awareness of the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions and getting multilateral negotiations underway on a prohibition treaty in the Oslo Process, and talks in the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.

• News source:
• 30 October 2007
• ReliefWeb
• By Angela Walker

BOUAKE, Côte d’Ivoire – Eighteen-year-old Beatrice Kouado is bent over her paper pattern in concentration, painstakingly guiding the yellow thread back and forth in regular, even stitches as she learns the art of tailoring.

“This training will assure my future – for myself and my family,” says Beatrice, her pink butterfly earrings glinting beneath her blue and orange scarf tied over her elaborate ringlets.

Beatrice was one of the lucky ones selected for the training programme, after her father heard it on the radio.

Beatrice once had hopes of becoming a teacher, but that dream was shattered after her school closed because of the civil war tearing her native Côte d’Ivoire in two. The crisis began in 2002, spurring the displacement of large numbers of people. An analysis undertaken in 2004 found that 61 per cent of those displaced were under 25 years of age.

• News source:
• 29 October 2007
• ReliefWeb
• By United Nations General Assembly

With the proliferation and illicit use of small arms and light weapons causing hundreds of deaths daily, destroying the economic fabric of nations and weakening security and stability, the United Nations should establish legally binding norms to complement the existing ones, which were “ineffective and full of loopholes”, the Disarmament Committee heard today.

Speaking as the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) continued its thematic debate on conventional weapons, Gabon’s representative said he was “profoundly worried” by the heavy cost of the irresponsible commerce in conventional weapons. An effective treaty on that arms trade would establish common norms for all countries, guaranteeing an arms trade that was more responsible and more humane…

• News source:
• 30 October 2007
• Legal Times
• The rise in Alien Tort Claims Act lawsuits serves as a wake-up call for companies with overseas operations
• By Jonathan Drimmer

How much attention must multinational corporations really pay to potential human rights abuses in overseas operations?

Though a recent verdict in a high-profile Alien Tort Claims Act case in Alabama resulted in a resounding victory for Drummond, the international mining company, multinational corporations still have great concerns…

Since then, dozens of companies have faced complaints. Recent subjects of scrutiny include Bridgestone Firestone… Yahoo… Nestlé… Archer Daniels Midland… Dole Foods, Dow Chemicals and others… The potential corporate liability in such highly charged cases, often involving allegations of torture, abuse, murder and other human rights violations committed against large classes of claimants, obviously is substantial…

Here are four modest suggestions for helping companies weather the ATCA storm…

• News source:
• 29 October 2007
• The Telegraph (Calcutta)
• By Muzaffar Raina

Srinagar – For every life saved by the Kashmir militants’ decision to eschew landmines, thank Khurram Parvez.

The rebels’ landmark decision that has impressed even the UN is the result of tireless efforts by the young rights activist, who lost a leg and a colleague to an improvised explosive device (IED) three years ago.

Parvez and Asiya Jeelani were touring Kupwara on April 20, 2004, to monitor elections when the blast killed Asiya and their driver Gul Mohammad.

“It was a huge loss and I made up my mind to ensure that no more lives were lost to such weapons,” Parvez, 31, said.

“During the past three years, I have been vigorously campaigning for a ban on the use of all landmines in the state, and we have succeeded in bringing the militants on board.”

The 13-member militant alliance, the United Jihad Council, announced on October 16 that it would not use landmines any more.

• News source:
• 29 October 2007
• Russia Profile
• Can Russia Work with its Partners in the “Northern Dimension”
• By Yury Deryabin

A new situation has arisen in the north of Europe that could eventually trigger a host of international disagreements. Besides directly affecting the countries in the region, it is capable of complicating relations between Russia and the United States, Canada, the European Union, and NATO. Russia’s renewed activity on the Arctic continental shelf is the apparent cause of all this commotion. Until recently, the Arctic shelf belonged to no one, yet it reputedly contains one quarter of the world’s oil-and-gas resources. Additionally, the Northwest Passage, the shortest route for ocean shipments between Northern Europe, Northeast Asia and the west coast of North America, traverses this territory.

After a Russian scientific expedition last August, it became possible to argue that the underwater Lomonosov and Mendeleev ridges were geological extensions of the Siberian continental shelf. If true, this would allow Russia to claim up to 1.2 million square kilometers of the Arctic shelf and extend its 200-mile offshore zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It is expected that the country will file an official claim to the appropriate UN commission in 2009.

Almost immediately, other countries started to challenge Russia’s claims. While the Arctic countries – the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway – were obviously the most interested, other northern European countries such as Sweden, Iceland and Finland and the UK, as well as such unlikely contenders as China and Japan showed concern over the claims.

No consensus has been reached so far. Perhaps the main objective shared by all the contenders is to keep Russia from strengthening its position in the Arctic, while furthering their own political and economic interests.

• News source:
• 29 October 2007
• Reuters AlertNet
• By Aseel Kami

BAGHDAD, Oct 29 (Reuters) – When the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra (INSO) holds a concert in Baghdad, organisers don’t like to advertise: in fact they would prefer as few people as possible know about it.

Welcome to the bravest orchestra in the world.

The INSO, established in 1959, has survived decades of war, international sanctions, government neglect and vicious sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and forced millions to flee for their lives.

It saw its music library and instrument store looted after the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, and one of its main concert venues was destroyed by U.S. missiles.

Some members have been kidnapped or killed in sectarian violence, others have received death threats and 29 have joined the exodus of more than 2 million people who have fled Iraq.

But amid the discord, the orchestra seeks harmony.

Its 60 members are an ethnic and religious cross-section of Iraqi society — Shi’ite, Sunni Muslim and Christian, and Arab, Kurd and Turkman. They see themselves as a family of survivors.

• News source:
• 23 October 2007
• CSRWire
• By World Vision Corporate Social Responsibility Press Release

Major League Baseball today announced it is expanding its longstanding relationship with international relief organization World Vision by donating unsalable 2007 postseason MLB-licensed apparel to children and families in developing countries around the world.

Major League Baseball has previously worked with World Vision to donate counterfeit goods that have been confiscated by law enforcement. These efforts will continue during the 2007 postseason.

• News source:
• 29 October 2007
• The Tyee
• By Tom Barrett

Journalism faces a crisis around the world and unless it’s fixed, society is in big trouble, American scholar and media activist Robert McChesney says.

“The market’s not going to solve the problem…. The technology’s not going to rescue us.”

Great journalism requires resources, institutional support, well-paid journalists and competition, McChesney told an audience at the Simon Fraser University downtown campus Saturday.

Creating institutions that can produce great journalism is going to take “enlightened, engaged, creative policy-making,” he said.

• News source:
• 29 October 2007
• Reuters AlertNet

JERUSALEM, Oct 29 – The European Union cautioned Israel on Monday against imposing “collective punishment” against the 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by reducing the territory’s fuel supplies.

The protest came one day after Israel began reducing fuel supplies as part of a new sanctions policy in what Israel says is a response to Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli towns from the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave.

“I think collective punishment is never a solution,” Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU’s commissioner for external relations, told reporters in Jerusalem.

• News source:
• 29 October 2007
• Reuters AlertNet

SRINAGAR, India, Oct 29 – Thousands of Indian troops will begin moving out of schools and hospitals in Kashmir this week in a move to boost trust in the revolt-torn region after a fall in militant violence, authorities said on Monday.

• News source:
• 28 October 2007
• Reuters
• By Lamine Ghanmi

SIRTE, Libya – Sudanese government officials and Darfur rebels will meet privately on Monday to discuss an agenda for peace talks but delegates said little real progress was expected in the absence of key rebel leaders.

Declaring the two-day opening session of the talks closed, U.N. envoy Jan Eliasson added in remarks to the gathering in Libya on Sunday he had seen signs the meeting could help end 4-1/2 years of violence in the devastated western region.

But he acknowledged wider rebel participation was needed, and diplomats said U.N. and African Union (AU) officials were expected to travel to Sudan in coming days to try to persuade key rebel leaders to abandon their boycott of the talks.

• News source:
• 28 OCtober 2007
• International Herald Tribune
• By Choe Sang-Hun

MANDALAY, Myanmar: Par Par Lay goes to India to seek relief for a toothache. The Indian dentist wonders why the Burmese man has come all that way to see him.

“Don’t you have dentists in Myanmar?” he asks.

“Oh, yes, we do, doctor,” says Par Par Lay. “But in Myanmar, we are not allowed to open our mouths.”

That’s a favorite joke of Par Par Lay, a third-generation practitioner of a-nyeint pwe, the traditional Burmese vaudeville featuring puppets, music and slapstick comedy tinged with in-your-face political satire – all performed in a country where cracking the wrong joke can land you in jail.

And Par Par Lay, the 60-year-old leader of the Mustache Brothers troupe, appears to be paying dearly for it.

• News source:
• 26 October 2007
• Ekklesia
• By Ekklesia staff

In a gesture intended to remind the country of its past and point to a better future, Anglican Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu has presented two vases to both Houses of Parliament, marking the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

Michael J Martin MP and Baroness Helene Hayman, the respective Speakers (whose job it is to maintain orderly debate) received the vases at the Speakers House on 23 October 2007.

The vases depict a kneeling slave in chains surrounded by a caption that simply reads: ‘Am I not a man and a brother?’.

The six vessels, regarded by experts as priceless, were created by John Mohin, director of the famous Wedgwood company – known for their trdaemark blue and white.

The vases are are replicas of ones originally created by Josiah Wedgwood, founder of the company, who was part of the 18th century British Committee to abolish the slave trade.

• News source:
• 26 October 2007
• Ekklesia
• By Ecumenical News International

Tajikistan has been at peace for 10 years. After its seven-year civil war, however, bitter memories still linger in people’s lives – writes Peter Kenny.

The country remains the poorest of the former Soviet republics, where many people still harp back nostalgically to times before the collapse of communism.

Yet many of Tajikistan’s people, whose language and culture are linked with Iran, have stopped waiting in vain for the State to come to their rescue. They have discovered groups, made up of themselves, that can help them, as they continue to pick up the pieces after a war that killed as many as 100 000 people, from a relatively small population of 7 million people, and that “pitted brother against brother.”