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UN envoy says Congo fighting could escalate
* http://gorilla.wildlifedirect.org/:
Secretary-General’s Special Representative Alan Doss has asked for additional peacekeepers beyond the nearly 19,000 uniformed personnel already there to prevent the vast country from slipping back into “horrendous” conflict.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The top U.N. envoy to Congo warned Friday that renewed fighting in eastern Congo has heightened ethnic tensions and could lead to the renewal of a wider conflict in central Africa.
Alan Doss urged all militias in the country's hilly eastern border area — the scene of the worst fighting and a humanitarian crisis in Congo — to support a U.N. disengagement plan to bring peace to the conflict-wracked region.
He expressed dismay at reports this week that a key rebel leader, Laurent Nkunda, who initially said he would discuss the plan, was now reported to be backtracking and "walking out of any effort to move the peace process forward."
Nkunda launched a low-level rebellion several years ago claiming Congo's transition to democracy had excluded the country's minority Tutsi ethnic group, which is being targeted by ethnic Hutus from Congo as well as Rwanda.
The U.N. estimates there are about 20,000 militia fighters in the east, belonging to a number of different groups.
Among them are members of an extremist ethnic Hutu militia accused of orchestrating the 1994 genocide of 500,000 ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda. The group and others are accused of razing villages, terrorizing the local population and perpetrating rapes.
Doss told reporters after briefing the U.N. Security Council he was deeply concerned about renewed fighting that began at the end of August in eastern Congo, especially in North Kivu, and has continued intermittently since then.
"We believe we need to go ahead as quickly as possible with the disengagement plan to reduce the risk of those hostilities spreading and spilling over," Doss said. "Ethnic tensions have risen in North Kivu and that is very dangerous — no doubt about it."
He warned that "tensions are rising and we do not want to see the Congo plunged back in to the conflict which spilled over and involved neighbors. That conflict lasted for many years with horrendous consequences."
Back-to-back wars in Congo spilled into half a dozen neighboring countries and destroyed much of Congo itself by 2002.
Doss said the 17,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, whose main role is protecting civilians caught in fighting, is trying to bring the situation under control through a proposed comprehensive disengagement plan.
He said a "modest" increase in the force is sought to help implement the disengagement plan, which includes a cease-fire, separation of forces, demobilization, disarmament and the reintegration of militia fighters.
"The disengagement plan was presented to the government and it has accepted it," Doss said, "and it was presented to some of the armed groups. They have accepted it."
The U.N., is looking for support for the plan from the Security Council, countries that contribute troops to the force, and all militias, he said. * http://gorilla.wildlifedirect.org/: ... more -
Israel criticized by UN for refusing review of nuke program
"A UN nuclear conference of 145 nations indirectly criticized Israel on Saturday for refusing to put its atomic program under international purview. But the Jewish state managed to evade being targeted by Islamic countries pushing for a vote to link it to nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
Iran, Israel's most outspoken foe, spearheaded the verbal attack on the Jewish state, as it has done at past general conferences of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Israel is widely considered to have nuclear arms, but has a "no tell" policy on the issue.
Chief Iranian delegate Ali Ashgar Soltanieh said Israel's nuclear capabilities represent a "serious and continued threat to the security of neighboring and other states."
He took the United States and other Western backers of Israel to task for their "shameful silence" on what he said was the menace posed by Israel's atomic arsenal.
The meeting voted for a resolution urging all nations to open their nuclear activities to outside inspection and work toward the establishment of a Mideast nuclear weapons free zone. With Israel the only country in the region considered to have atomic arms, passage of the resolution constituted indirect criticism of the Jewish state.
The resolution called on all nations in the Middle East "not to develop, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons," and urged nuclear weapons states to "refrain from any action" hindering the establishment of a Mideast zone free of nuclear weapons.
But US and the European Union managed to block an effort by Muslim nations and their supporters to submit a resolution more directly critical of Israel and its "nuclear capabilities."
Although last year's meeting followed a similar pattern, the votes for and against the two motions reflected shifting dynamics on the issues.
On Saturday, delegations had so far voted 82-0 for establishing the Mideast nuclear weapons free zone, with Israel, Syria and the U.S. among those abstaining. Last year it was 53 in favor, the U.S. and Israel against, and 47 abstentions."
More at link.
The government of Israel likes to: piss off Muslims ... be the greediest and most selfish nation in the world ... think it is a powerful nation ... think it will last forever ... think it will be backed up by western nations for ever ... think it will win any war ... think it can have nuclear weapons and hide the fact ... think it can take anything it wants without any consciousness of their actions against human beings ... think it is not practising genocide in Palestine ... think it is not the reason why there is more violence in the world.
Israel needs to wake up and smell the blood it has shed in today's world.
Israel needs to reverse its genocide in Palestine, free Palestine and free Gaza.
Israel needs to be the driving force for world peace.
Israel needs to act now! "A UN nuclear conference of 145 nations indirectly criticized Israel on Saturday for refusing to put its atomic program under int... more -
Sudanese ex-commander speaks up about Darfur crimes
Former Sudanese Commander Arbab Idries admits to arming and leading Janjaweed milita attacks on civilans in Darfur in order to "rid the land of blacks." The former commander says he believes he committed war crimes in Darfur. Former Sudanese Commander Arbab Idries admits to arming and leading Janjaweed milita attacks on civilans in Darfur in order to "r... more
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Muslim Children gassed at Dayton mosque after "Obsession" DVD hits Ohio
On Friday, September 26, the end of a week in which thousands of copies of Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West -- the fear-mongering, anti-Muslim documentary being distributed by the millions in swing states via DVDs inserted in major newspapers and through the U.S. mail -- were distributed by mail in Ohio, a "chemical irritant" was sprayed through a window of the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton, where 300 people were gathered for a Ramadan prayer service.
The room that the chemical was sprayed into was the room where babies and children were being kept while their mothers were engaged in prayers. On Friday, September 26, the end of a week in which thousands of copies of Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West -- the... more -
Rwanda On Trial
How does a country recover from a genocide? In Rwanda, the government has implemented a traditional system of justice and reconciliation known as the Gacaca courts. The courts are expected to deal with the hundreds of thousands of people accused of participating in the 1994 genocide and promote reconciliation between genocide perpetrators and survivors. Jonathan Jones and Anna Sussman were granted rare access to videotape the proceedings. They also traveled to other parts of the country to investigate underlying ethnic tensions. How does a country recover from a genocide? In Rwanda, the government has implemented a traditional system of justice and reconciliati... more
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Sudan army 'threatens Darfur truce'
Sudanese armed forces have attacked the only Darfur rebel group to have signed a peace deal with the government, the group's leader has said.
Minni Arcua Minnawi, a leader of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), said four of his troops were killed and 16 wounded after coming under attack at their base in Kolge in the east Jebel Marra region on Sunday.
"They attacked us with Antonov aircraft, helicopters and tanks," he said.
Minnawi became a presidential advisor after his group signed a peace agreement in 2006 with Khartoum - the Sudanese capital and the seat of president Omar al-Bashir's administration.
He accused the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of attempting to kill off the peace process.
"We want to respect the peace process, but we are fighting in self-defence," he said.
"If the peace agreement is over, it is over from one side – the NCP side," Minnawi said.
'New offensive'
He said he was considering closing his office in Sudan's presidential palace in protest at the action.
Mohammed Bashir Abdullah, the head of Minnawi's office, said it was the first time the army had launched a direct attack on his men.
The SLA said the new offensive started a week ago and had continued daily.
Areas controlled by SLA fighters have been attacked by government troops in the past, but Khartoum has denied carrying out any military action.
Leaders from three other rebel groups confirmed the attacks near Tabit, at least 50km southwest of el Fasher, north Darfur's capital, and said that other clashes with government forces had occurred across the region.
'Residents fleeing attacks'
Sherif Harir, an SLA member, said: "Bombing has been continuing up till now," adding that air attacks had forced residents to flee 200 villages in the remote area.
Peacekeepers confirmed there had been fighting between government and rebel forces in which aircraft were involved.
"The reports that we have indicate there has been heavy fighting," Kemal Saiki, a spokesman for the joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID), told the AFP news agency.
"We do not have exact details. But with reports of more than 100 vehicles with troops, this is not just a skirmish."
Richard Williamson, the US' special envoy to Sudan, said the new fighting was unacceptable at a time when efforts were being made to bring a ceasefire to the country's troubled western region.
'Grave concern'
"The government should honour the ceasefire. This descent into violence causes grave concern about the humanitarian situation," he said.
The UN has said up to 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since the conflict erupted in February 2003.
Sudan says 10,000 people have been killed.
The war began when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-led Khartoum regime and state-backed Arab militias, fighting for resources and power.
The conflict has since deteriorated with the emergence of a multiplying array of rebel groups, breakaway militia groups and bandits. Sudanese armed forces have attacked the only Darfur rebel group to have signed a peace deal with the government, the group's lead... more -
Darfur Crisis Continues on U.S. Watch
On September 9, 2004, the Bush administration recognized that the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan constitutes genocide. Remembering these words, Africa Action today urged President Bush to make security and accountability in Darfur priorities for the remainder of his presidency, and the next U.S. president to pursue a comprehensive, long-term commitment to peace and justice for Darfur and all Sudan.
Since January, the United Nations (UN) estimates that 210,000 people have been displaced in Darfur and to eastern Chad. Flooding from the rainy season has exacerbated this humanitarian crisis, but the biggest threats to the people of Darfur are man-made. Lawlessness abounds, and the UN-African Union (AU) Darfur peacekeeping force known as UNAMID has been unable to protect innocent communities or humanitarian workers from violence by militias, rebels, bandits and government troops. Over 30 civilians were killed by government forces in a late August attack on the Kalma internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in South Darfur.
"Four years after condemning the conflict in Darfur as the world's gravest crime, President Bush has left the people of Sudan a legacy of tragically unfulfilled promises," said Gerald LeMelle, Executive Director of Africa Action. "He should make the best of the remainder of his term by doing three things. First, the U.S. should work with international partners to achieve the rapid deployment of all 18 formed police units (FPUs) mandated for UNAMID to provide 24 hour protection for IDPs in Darfur. Second, President Bush should push to enforce the existing UN Security Council arms embargo for Darfur and expand this weapons ban to all Sudan. Finally, the U.S. should resist international efforts to suspend International Criminal Court (ICC) proceedings investigating Sudan's President Omer al-Bashir."
Only around 10,000 of the UNAMID's 26,000 uniformed personnel have been deployed, due to a combination of Sudanese obstruction and operational difficulty training, equipping and integrating different national forces. A recent report by a consortium of civil society groups working in and for Darfur further criticized those forces on the ground for not doing enough with their existing resources to protect civilians.
"The international community's painfully slow progress in effectively deploying UNAMID demonstrates how critical it is to have a coordinated, long-term approach to human security and democracy in Sudan," said Michael Swigert, Africa Action's Associate Director for Policy and Communications. "U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have both promised 'unstinting resolve' to end genocide and promote peace for Darfur and all of Sudan. To demonstrate the depth of their commitment, they should discuss the issue at their foreign policy debate on September 26."
Over the coming months, Africa Action and partners will be mobilizing public pressure to hold the next U.S. president accountable to his commitment to peace and justice for Sudan. For more information on this grassroots action or how to end genocide in Darfur, visit www.africaaction.org. On September 9, 2004, the Bush administration recognized that the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan constitutes genocide. Remembe... more -
Israeli Military Gunboat Rams Unarmed Palestinian Fishing Vessel
An Israeli military gunboat rammed an unarmed Palestinian fishing vessel today at high speeds. The
gunboat smashed through the upper hull of the fishing boat, careened over
the top, and landed on the other side.
Extensive damage was caused by the impact to the fishing boat. The hull
was badly damaged, and virtually the entire deck area, all the equipment
on it, and the canopy above the deck were severely damaged. Unusually, all
of the crew happened to be in the cabin or at the fore at the time. Had
they been on deck they would have had little chance of survival.
Via a megaphone, the Israeli military aboard the gunboat then made the
threat that: "When the internationals leave Gaza, you will all be made to
pay."
Human rights observers from the International Solidarity Movement and from
the Free Gaza Movement have recently been accompanying Gazan Fishermen
during their work. The fishermen are constantly harassed, threatened and
attacked by the State of Israel, in flagrant violation of international
law and maritime law. Israel has been attempting to impose an illegal
"no-go" area 6 miles off Gaza's coast through employment of lethal force
against unarmed fishing boats. However, and this is not unusual, today's
attack happened within the so-called "permitted" 6-mile area.
The ISM regards the project of accompanying unarmed Palestinian fishermen
as a long term commitment. Some of the human rights observers currently
undertaking this work are long-term volunteers who will be in Gaza for the
indefinite future. More long-term volunteers are expected to bolster their
number within the next few weeks.
Please TAKE ACTION and CALL:
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
tel: +972 2 530 3111
fax: +972 2 530 3367
Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations
tel: +1 212 499 5510
fax: +1 212 499 5515
DEMAND that Israel stop using deadly force to intimidate unarmed
Palestinian fishermen operating within Gaza's coastal waters! An Israeli military gunboat rammed an unarmed Palestinian fishing vessel today at high speeds. The ... more -
Georgia should hold a referendum, but has begun war
Georgia should hold a referendum, but has begun war with Ossetia
History of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic: the Political scientist Natalia Narochnitskaja has reminded legal aspects of an exit of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic from Soviet Union. Georgia should hold a referendum, but has begun war with Ossetia ... more -
Politics? Global warming? Mind Control Hate Propaganda, Hate Speech & Crimes, ...
This is a little long... but interesting in these political times.
This is about how mind control, hate, propaganda, etc. is used in politics, genocide and war.
My purpose for posting it is simply so that people can be aware that in politics, and other areas, people are paid to pull our strings and make us react.
For example the writers of political speeches have desired outcomes.
The more charismatic the speaker the greater the outcome.
the question is...
How much do you feel and think is a result of how someone else tells you how to feel and think?
In the end... what is it truly yours?
With the violence reported from the crowds at the DNC and now at the RNC (monday) I wonder... what are these people thinking?
Please don't dissect political candidates here. That's not what it's about. I simply wanted to highlight that other people often pull OUR strings. And make us aware.
It's amazing how this is used.
Hate speech and propaganda are protected under our bill of rights. This is a little long... but interesting in these political times. ... more -
Vatican warns of growing "Christianophobia"
"Christianophobia" is a growing problem around the world and it must be fought with the same determination as anti-Semitism or Islamophobia, the Vatican said on Friday.
Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's foreign minister, spoke in the wake of attacks against Christians in India that have left at least 13 people dead this week.
Mamberti, addressing a conference in northern Italy, said religious freedom was a vital part of international relations and human dignity.
"In order to promote this dignity in an integral way, so-called 'Christianophobia' should be combated as decisively as 'Islamophobia' and anti-Semitism," he said.
This week in eastern India, thousands of people, most of them Christians, have sought shelter in makeshift government camps, driven from their homes by religious violence.
Hindu mobs burnt more than a dozen churches and attacked Christians after a Hindu leader was killed.
Mamberti said the events in India made the issue of religious liberty today all the more pressing.
While Hindu groups accuse Christian priests of bribing poor tribes and low-caste Hindus to change their faith, the Christians say lower-caste Hindus convert willingly to escape a complex caste system.
Pope Benedict has condemned the violence against Christians in Orissa but also deplored the killing of the Hindu leader.
Italy's foreign ministry said it would summon India's ambassador to demand "incisive action" to prevent further attacks against Christians.
Mamberti said 21 Catholic missionaries were killed in the world in 2007 and lamented that the Christian population of Iraq was now down to about 500,000 from about one million before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Last month, Pope Benedict told Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that minority Christians in Iraq needed more protection.
The Archbishop of Mosul of Iraq's largest Christian denomination, the Chaldean Catholics, was kidnapped in February and found dead two weeks later.
The Vatican has often expressed concern that conflicts in the Middle East are greatly diminishing the Christian population in the areas of the religion's birth.
from: Reuters
http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKLT61932620080... "Christianophobia" is a growing problem around the world and it must be fought with the same determination as anti-Semitism ... more -
India Woman Burned To Death In Anti Christian Violence; Churches Destroyed
In another forum I was shocked at the Anti-Christian attitude from posters here in America even.
The title above was confirmed 8/28/2008 by BBC News.
In this century more Christians have died for their faith than in the other nearly 2k years combined. Let that sink in.
First of all. These people were only Jesus Freaks in the light that they died for their faith. Most did not own a bible, although that is a cherished and protected item that some, not many house churches have access to. They often share bibles among many. In most of the countries owning a Bible is punishable by death or indefinite imprisonment.
Now think about that for one moment. Death for owning a Bible. We cannot comprehend that here in the United States. This is common especially under "Islamic States" where Islam is the mandatory religion. And is also common in communist and we are seeing other governments doing the same.
These people lived in fear and knowing that death is often the consequence of believing in God and Jesus.
Did they go around making condescending comments? Hell no . Did they quietly worship in secret? Yes.
So before the politically correct brainwashes and blinds you to the plight of even Christians around the world...
Below are examples of stuff that happened THIS WEEK.
(sorry to take up space, but this is continued below.) In another forum I was shocked at the Anti-Christian attitude from posters here in America even. ... more -
Karadzic refuses war crimes pleas
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has refused to enter a plea to charges of war crimes at the United Nations tribunal in The Hague.
A tribunal judge entered a plea of not guilty to all charges on his behalf, in line with the rules of the court. Karadzic faces 11 counts, including genocide, relating to the 1990s Bosnian civil war.
He was arrested in the Serbian capital Belgrade in July after 13 years on the run, living under a false name. Facing the tribunal for the second time since his arrest, and looking calm and composed, Karadzic said it was a "court of Nato" which had as its aim his "liquidation".
The charges against Karadzic include what is regarded as Europe's worst massacre since World War II - the killing of up to 8,000 men and youths in the enclave of Srebrenica.
There will be a further hearing on 17 September. No trial date has been set. Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has refused to enter a plea to charges of war crimes at the United Nations tribunal in The... more -
Sudan forces kill 27 in Darfur camp clash
Sudanese forces attacked a Darfur refugee camp on Monday, leaving up to 27 dead and scores wounded, rebel leaders said.
The United Nations said it was "gravely concerned" at reports Sudanese security vehicles had surrounded South Darfur's volatile Kalma camp and that attacks had resulted in "injuries and deaths of civilians".
A spokesman for Sudan's army said officers had entered the camp to search for weapons, but insisted armed camp residents had fired on them first.
Kalma camp, long a centre of unrest, is home to 90,000 people who have fled their villages in five years of fighting in western Sudan between rebels, the government and militias.
The government has accused armed rebel supporters of taking refuge in Kalma while residents have accused government-backed militias of mounting a string of raids on the settlement.
Leaders of two Darfur rebel factions told Reuters government forces in around 100 vehicles surrounded Kalma at 5 a.m. (0200 GMT). A U.N. source said there were reports shooting had started inside the camp three hours later.
"I am inside the camp Kalma. Now there is still shooting," Abakr Suleiman, a senior tribal leader inside the settlement, said at 10 a.m. "There is heavy shooting. They came into the camp and killed people. There are houses burning."
Ahmed Abdel Shafie, leader of a Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction, said there were 27 confirmed deaths in what he said was an attack by Sudan's army.
"The IDPs (internally displaced people) are resisting, we are expecting casualties," Shafie added. "They (the government of Sudan) want to demolish Kalma camp, they want to force people to leave."
Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said at least 65 people -- more than half of them women and children -- were treated at its Kalma clinic after being injured in the shooting.
DEFIANCE
A U.N. source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been a "full armed confrontation" between the Sudanese armed forces and camp residents.
The source said early, unconfirmed reports suggested 32 people had been killed and 105 injured in the fighting.
Noureddine Mezni, spokesman for the joint U.N./African Union UNAMID peacekeepers in Darfur, said Sudanese police had shown peacekeepers a search warrant authorising them to enter Kalma camp to search for weapons and "possible wanted persons".
Yahia El Bashir, the British-based spokesman for another SLA faction, said the attack was "a message of defiance to the international community. We call on the UNAMID peacekeepers to do their job and defend the IDPs."
Mezni said UNAMID officers were on their way to the camp to prepare a full report.
The United Nations' most senior humanitarian official in Sudan, Ameerah Haq, called for restraint, adding "such actions severely threaten the safety and security of civilians who have a right to protection under International Humanitarian Law".
A spokesman for Sudan's armed forces, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an army search party was fired on from inside the camp. "They (the search party) tried to resist and there was an exchange of fire between the two sides," he added. "We are still waiting for details of casualties from all sides."
International experts say more than 2.5 million Darfuris have been driven from their homes by five years of violence that has killed 200,000 people. Sudan puts the death count at 10,000.
The new joint U.N.-African Union mediator for Darfur, Djibril Bassole, is due to arrive in Khartoum on Monday to take up his position. (Additional reporting by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Giles Elgood) Sudanese forces attacked a Darfur refugee camp on Monday, leaving up to 27 dead and scores wounded, rebel leaders said. ... more -
Save Darfur: Rights groups frustrated by olympics
The pyrotechnics and fake pomp and circumstance of the Beijing Olympics will bring the competition to an end, but the genocide in Darfur that so many seem to have put out of their consciousness goes on.
"The Beijing Olympics have left the world's human rights groups frustrated and angry - convinced that China has been let off the hook for serious abuses, and adamant that future hosts like Russia must be held to a higher standard.
Western activists also are disappointed that among the thousands of athletes at the games, few have made even low-key efforts to speak out about political repression or China's economic ties to Sudan, where violence has raged in Darfur.
"Even if there was an athlete that wanted to speak out on issues of human rights, he might be silenced by whatever IOC official is mediating that press event," Darfur activist and former U.S. Olympian Joey Cheek said in an e-mail Wednesday to The Associated Press.
Cheek, co-founder of a group of athletes known as Team Darfur, had his visa revoked by Chinese authorities hours before he was to embark for Beijing. Team Darfur athletes who are in Beijing have acceded to International Olympic Committee curbs on political comment, resulting in what Cheek called "massive suppression of any voice that the government doesn't want heard."
Prominent human-rights groups have castigated the IOC and the games' major corporate sponsors for their reluctance to place any public pressure on China on such issues as political dissent and press freedom.
"The Chinese government's own voluntary pledges to improve human rights, allow public protests and guarantee 'complete freedom to report' made meeting these self-set human rights benchmarks one of the tests for a successful Olympics," Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch said in an e-mail from New York. "That is a test that both Beijing and the IOC have failed."
She said the Beijing games, rather than bequeathing a positive legacy, "may leave in place permanent technological surveillance and monitoring networks that make doing human rights work even more dangerous and difficult for Chinese citizens."
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are calling on the IOC to establish a more rigorous process for assessing the human-rights records of countries which bid for and host future Olympics."
The IOC has met with Amnesty and Human Rights Watch, but IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies indicated their proposals would likely be rebuffed.
"We're a sports organization. ... we stay clearly within our role, which is to bring sport to host countries," she said Wednesday. "We're not an organization that is best placed or has the capacity to deal with human rights issues"."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With all due respect to Giselle Davies regarding this remark:
"We're a sports organization. ... we stay clearly within our role, which is to bring sport to host countries," she said Wednesday. "We're not an organization that is best placed or has the capacity to deal with human rights issues."
It is OBVIOUS you are not in an organization that has the capacity to deal with nor to care about human rights. And that is damned sad as I always thought the true spirit of sports was brotherhood. It is obvious however, it is now nothing more than a money making machine for selfish people who only care about winning at any cost. Shame on her for that remark.
*To whoever is going into this post and changing it. Please stop it. Thank you. The pyrotechnics and fake pomp and circumstance of the Beijing Olympics will bring the competition to an end, but the genocide in Darf... more -
US dismisses Russian claims of genocide by Georgia
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A U.S. official on Tuesday dismissed as ridiculous claims by Russia that Georgia committed genocide during fighting this month in two breakaway Georgian regions.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza also demanded Russian action to end human rights violations in areas of Georgia occupied by its troops.
Russia and Georgia, an ally of the United States, have been exchanging accusations of atrocities in the conflict that has led to a major rift between Russia and Western countries.
Georgia launched a heavy artillery barrage Aug. 7 on South Ossetia, a separatist Georgian province with close ties to Russia. Last week, Russian troops drove Georgian forces out of South Ossetia, and conflict also broke out in a second Russian-backed separatist region, Abkhazia.
Russian prosecutors have opened a genocide probe into Georgian treatment of South Ossetians. Georgia sued Russia in international court, alleging murder, rape and mass expulsions of Georgians in both provinces.
Bryza, speaking to reporters, called reports of human rights violations, including murder and rape, credible in areas of Georgia now controlled by Russia, but said they appeared to be committed by Russian-backed irregular militias rather than the Russian military.
"As peacekeepers, or as human beings, members of the Russian military are responsible for making sure that the territory that they now occupy is free from these ravages against the local population," Bryza said. He said that in South Ossetia, local militias have in the past been commanded by Russia.
He said there was no credible evidence that Georgia had tried to wipe out civilian populations in the two regions.
"The claims of genocide or of ending the South Ossetian and Abkhaz people, they are downright false and ridiculous," Bryza said WASHINGTON (AP) -- A U.S. official on Tuesday dismissed as ridiculous claims by Russia that Georgia committed genocide during fighting... more -
Survivor of Rwandan genocide beaten to death
A woman who lost nearly all her family in the Rwandan genocide has herself been murdered, a local villager told AFP Monday, in what is the latest of several killings of survivors of the 1994 slaughter.
Jozefina Zaninka, 75, was beaten to death overnight Friday in the Muhanga district in the south of the country, Radio Rwanda, the official government broadcaster reported.
"Her body was found Saturday morning in her stable by a young man who had come, as usual, to milk the cows for her," Benoit Kaboyi, executive secretary of Ibuka, the main organisation for the genocide survivors, told AFP.
"We buried her yesterday (Sunday) after the autopsy and some suspects have already been arrested by the police," he added.
Zaninka had been claiming compensation before one of the semi-traditional courts, known as gacacas, for the pillaging of and damage to her possessions during the genocide.
Her murder might have been linked to the court action she initiated, Kaboyi added. Zaninka, who lived alone, had lost nearly all her family, in 1994.
According to Ibuka, 167 survivors of the genocide have been murdered between 1995 and mid-May 2008.
Murders of survivors of the genocide are frequent in the region, Radio Rwanda reported: in May, a survivor in her 90s was burned alive by villagers.
The gacacas are grass-roots courts inspired by the old village assemblies.
They have tried most of those suspected of carrying out the 1994 genocide, in which Hutus targetted the country's Tutsi population, but also moderate Hutus. According to United Nations figures, nearly 800,000 were killed in the violence. A woman who lost nearly all her family in the Rwandan genocide has herself been murdered, a local villager told AFP Monday, in what is... more -
Nato cools relations with Russia
Nato foreign ministers have said they "cannot continue business as usual" with Russia, and demanded that Moscow pull troops from Georgia immediately.
The declaration followed talks in Brussels about the conflict between Moscow and Tbilisi over Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Some Russian troops have been seen leaving the Georgian town of Gori.
But Georgia's interior ministry dismissed the move as a "show aimed at creating the illusion of a withdrawal".
Russian officials told the BBC that the vehicles and 100 men were heading for the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali and then on to Vladikavkaz in neighbouring North Ossetia - a province of Russia.
See map of the region
However, BBC correspondents on the ground say there are still Russian artillery and troop positions dug in all around Gori, the largest Georgian town close to the South Ossetia border. In addition, there are Russian checkpoints about 35km (22 miles) from the capital, Tbilisi.
Both sides have accused the other of violating an EU-brokered peace plan that was signed by the presidents of Georgia and Russia last week. Nato foreign ministers have said they "cannot continue business as usual" with Russia, and demanded that Moscow pull troops ... more -
Dirie Ali: Mogadishu genocide going on
A Hawiye clan elder has accused the Somali government of committing genocide despite signing a peace deal with some opposition figures.
Ahmed Dirie Ali who is also Spokesman of the Hawiye Traditional Council said on Tuesday 'the man who is called the Somali President” is committing genocide in Mogadishu.
“They hide themselves behind the Ethiopians” after committing such a crime, said Dirie Ali in a phone conversation with the Press TV correspondent in South Mogadishu.
“The world must see what the so-called Somali government is doing,” he added.
Somali government representatives and a number of opposition figures formally signed a UN-sponsored peace deal in Djibouti on Monday.
The pact between the Eritrea-based opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) and the government calls for continued dialogue between the parties and advises against any 'inflammatory statements'.
It also condemned 'the perpetrators as well as those who mastermind and fund violence which targets innocent people, including killings, indiscriminate shelling, looting, raping and acts of piracy'. A Hawiye clan elder has accused the Somali government of committing genocide despite signing a peace deal with some opposition figures... more -
The Darfur Olympics
Most Olympic corporate sponsors have been silent about China's financing of the Darfur genocide, even as they enhance Beijing's image by spending billions of dollars on the Olympics. Take action: change the channel when sponsors' commercials air during the Games. Join those who will watch Mia Farrow reporting from a Darfurian refugee camp during the Olympics.
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There are videos at this link for every day since the opening ceremony dealing with another aspect of this genocide in Darfur. We must not forget what is happening while the Chinese government hopes to use the Olympic Games to escape culpability for their supplying arms to Sudan that is contributing to the atrocities and rape of its people.
Thank you, Mia Farrow. Most Olympic corporate sponsors have been silent about China's financing of the Darfur genocide, even as they enhance Beijing... more
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Genocide
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Genocide
