West African block to deploy troops in Mali, Guinea-Bissau

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Category: DateLines

Created on Thursday, 26 April 2012 11:21

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West African block to deploy troops in Mali, Guinea-Bissau

The main regional grouping of West African states has mobilized troops to help diffuse the crises in Mali and Guinea-Bissau. The EU has praised the regional bloc's "strong response" to the military coups.

West Africa's main political and military bloc announced on Thursday that it would deploy troops to Mali and Guinea-Bissau in order to help the two countries restore stability and civilian rule after military coups there.

{sidebar id=10 align=right}The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said that it would send some 3,000 troops to Mali in order to help the country's military retrain and re-quip in the face of a separatist movement in the north.

In March, a group of military officers forced former president Amadou Toumani Toure from power out of anger over his handling an ethnic Tuareg rebellion in the north. The Tuareg rebels then used the ensuing chaos to capture the northern swath of the country and declare their own state, a move rejected by the international community. The Islamist wing of the rebels is rumored to have connections with al-Qaeda militants in North Africa.

"The heads of state and of government decided to take all the necessary measures in order to assist Mali in the re-establishment of its unity and of its territorial integrity," ECOWAS said in a release. Capt. Amadou Sanogo, the leader of Mali's junta, has rejected a foreign military intervention to restore Malian sovereignty in the north, but has asked for international partners to help with logistics and equipment.

Ultimatum to Guinea-Bissau

ECOWAS also issued an ultimatum to Guinea-Bissau, calling on the former Portugese colony to accept a force of 600 foreign troops or face economic and political sanctions. The country's prime minister, Carlos Gomez Junior, was forced from power by the armed forces' so-called Military Command.

A spokesman for the Military Command said last week that any foreign army would be treated as an occupying force. Guinea-Bissau, which has suffered numerous coups since it won independence in 1974, has become a transit point for Latin American drug cartels transporting narcotics to Europe.

The European Union's managing director for Africa, Nick Westcott, said Brussels was supportive of the "strong response" by ECOWAS to the situations in the two countries.

"Experience has shown that as long as the military have a stranglehold on the politics of the country, there will be no effective reform, no effective civilian administration, and no effective efforts to combat the drug trafficking which is known to be going on," Westcott said. "Now is finally an opportunity to remove the military, but clearly it's reluctant to go voluntarily."

slk/av (AP, AFP, Reuters)

Source: Deutsche Welle

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Pakistani prime minister 'suspended' after contempt verdict

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Category: Law & Justice

Created on Thursday, 26 April 2012 11:21

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Pakistani prime minister 'suspended' after contempt verdict

Gilani was summoned to appear before the Supreme Court in February

Pakistan's premier has been convicted of contempt by the Supreme Court, but already served his sentence of 'imprisonment' which lasted a mere few minutes. Observers fear the verdict could have far-reaching implications.

After his last summons to the Supreme Court in February of this year, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was convicted of contempt on Thursday by the country's highest judiciary.

{sidebar id=11 align=right}The case against Gilani was first opened in 2009 when the Supreme Court ordered the government to write to Swiss authorities, requesting they reopen a graft case dating back to the late 1990s against President Asif Ali Zardari involving 60 million US dollars.

Zardari and his late wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, had been found guilty of graft by a Swiss court in absentia in 2003. He appealed the case and it was shelved in 2008 when he took office as president.

The Pakistani government has repeatedly refused to write the letter, arguing that Zardari enjoyed immunity as head-of-state, and accused judges of plotting with the military to wage a witch-hunt against him.

Symbolic sentence

Gilani could have faced up to six months in prison, but the justices gave him a nominal and symbolic sentence of "imprisonment" that lasted only a few minutes. Former Justice of the Supreme Court Wajih Ud Din told DW, however, that Thursday's ruling disqualified Gilani from his office as prime minister - and not only for the time being, but "for the span of five years."

The former justice said that because the Supreme Court convicted Gilani under Article 63 1G, his disqualification was immediate and that the government had to act fast to elect a replacement.

"According to the constitution, there is no prime minister right now. We do not have a cabinet, we do not have any federal minister. So I think the wisest course of these people would be to convene a meeting of the National Assembly, elect a leader, install him as the prime minister and let the affairs of the state run."

He said it was highly likely a candidate from Gilani's own Pakistan People's Party would be chosen and that "elections could even take place today or tonight."

Zardari's immunity

The matter would eventually, end up with the president, said the justice, and that he is highly likely to be summoned to court in Switzerland.

"The Pakistan law protects him only within the boundaries of Pakistan while he is in office," Wajih said, adding "but there is no constitutional protection available to a Pakistani president outside Pakistan. It may be that he has some protection under the Geneva Conventions, but that is something which has to be decided by the court in Geneva and not by the courts in Pakistan."

Ties with India, US

Senior journalist Nazir Naji told DW the verdict could have far-reaching implications for the country.

"If you take a look at the overall situation in Pakistan, everything is deteriorating. The judiciary is concentrating on political decisions rather than handling criminal cases," he said.

"The government is unstable to the extent that there exists a question mark over its very future now. My question is, who will indulge in talks and negotiations with such a government?"

Ties with the US had reached a new low after a NATO attack in November last year killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The Pakistani government reacted by closing off its border to Afghanistan for NATO convoys. Recently, though, the government decided to lift the blockade.

"Things were finally getting better with the US and Grossman is due to meet with Pakistani officials this evening. And now, who will talk with him about long-term and other issues," Naji said.

"With respect to India, too, just as things were just starting to get better, our political stability is at stake now. All these matters with respect to Pak-India and Pak-US relations are deeply connected with our internal stability as well. Similarly, when it comes to US aid, all of these will be suspended now and we will collapse."

Civilian government vs. military

Many onlookers fear the verdict is an implication of instability in Pakistan and some even think the verdict reflects a political battle between the civilian government and the powerful military. Since its founding in 1947, Pakistan has been marred by battles between the military and the government and has been under military leadership for much of its history.

Incumbent President Zardari was elected in 2008 to replace General Musharraf, who had led a military coup in 1999. Now that Gilani is out of office, "I think that power is going into the hands of the armed forces," Naji said.

Former Justice Wajih, however, said he did not agree. "I don't think there is any truth in it with regard to confrontation between the Pakistan Armed Forces and the civilian government. They appear to be on the same page. But then who can defend a prime minister who blatantly commits crimes of contempt? Who can defend him?"

Author: Sarah Berning Editor: Gregg Benzow

Source: Deutsche Welle

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EU interior ministers argue over border controls

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Category: Current Issues

Created on Thursday, 26 April 2012 11:21

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EU interior ministers argue over border controls

Some EU interior ministers want the right to re-impose controls within the border-free Schengen area. Many see this as a populist move ahead of the French elections.

Europeans consider the right to travel throughout the Schengen zone without having to show a passport to be one of the European Union's real achievements. But for the last few years, the political mood has changed. Many governments are concerned about uncontrolled flows of refugees. They accuse countries like Greece of not doing enough to secure the EU's outer border, thus giving immigrants free reign to live where they choose once they enter the zone.

The French interior minister, Claude Gueant, and his German counterpart, Hans-Peter Friedrich, have recently written a joint letter in which they call for the right to impose border controls for up to thirty days if there is such an extraordinary influx.

Last summer, Denmark raised a storm of protest by closing its borders for a brief period. Friedrich told his EU colleagues in Luxembourg on Thursday that his proposal was nothing like that.

"The Danes wanted to impose border controls permanently and didn't give any reason," he said.

That was not in accordance with the valuable principle of freedom to travel, Friedrich added.

"We want to have a legal basis with clear criteria for action in emergencies, which were not covered properly in the past," he said. "And we don't accept that the EU Commission is alone responsible on this issue."

'A happy balance'

Unilateral border controls are already possible, but only in the case of a "serious threat to public order and security." The current influx of refugees does not amount to that, according to both the commission and the EU parliament. Friedrich and Gueant want to change that, and they are not alone.

The Austrian interior minister, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, expressed her support for the Franco-German proposals and explained how she saw the future role of the commission.

"The commission should act as a kind of early warning system and should propose concrete measures which should then be implemented," she said.

Mikl-Leitner added that border controls should only be permitted "as a last resort" for when the commission's measures do not work. That way, she said, there would be a "happy balance between the European Commission and the member states."

On EC Commission turf

But the EU home affairs commissioner, Cecilia Malmström, does not like this division of responsibility.

"What we need with Schengen is a European mechanism, since Schengen is a European project," she said. "The commission hasn't changed its view on this."

She suggests, for example, that a country faced with an "unexpected emergency" - such as a terrorist attack or a natural catastrophe - should be able to control its borders for five days. Any extension would have to be decided on at the EU level. Malmström insists on keeping control of the border regulations when it comes to refugees, as a way of avoiding the issue from being used for populist reasons.

Election angle

Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, said Monday that the Franco-German proposal was indeed a populist gesture aimed at winning votes during the French presidential campaign.

After the interior ministers' meeting, Malmström did not try to hide her views on the matter.

"Schengen is far too important for it to be exploited for campaign purposes," she said.

For his part, German interior minister Friedrich denies that he made his proposal to help President Sarkozy's election campaign. Gueant also rejects any hint of populism.

"We govern for the people," he said, "and the people in France are very worried about illegal immigration. So we have to take this worry seriously."

The time chosen to launch the proposal could arouse suspicion as to the motives behind it. Officials made the Franco-German letter public just before France's first round of voting. The announcement came well before there was a practical need for it, since the interior ministers will not be deciding on a possible reform of Schengen until June.

Author: Christoph Hasselbach, Brussels / mll Editor: Shant Shahrigian

Source: Deutsche Welle

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'They're killing us': world's most endangered tribe cries for help

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Category: The World

Created on Sunday, 22 April 2012 00:00

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'They're killing us': world's most endangered tribe cries for help

Logging companies keen to exploit Brazil's rainforest have been accused by human rights organisations of using gunmen to wipe out the Awá, a tribe of just 355. Survival International, with backing from Colin Firth, is campaigning to stop what a judge referred to as 'genocide'.

Gethin Chamberlain

{sidebar id=11}Trundling along the dirt roads of the Amazon, the giant logging lorry dwarfed the vehicle of the investigators following it. The trunks of nine huge trees were piled high on the back – incontrovertible proof of the continuing destruction of the world's greatest rainforest and its most endangered tribe, the Awá.

Yet as they travelled through the jungle early this year, the small team from Funai – Brazil's National Indian Foundation – did not dare try to stop the loggers; the vehicle was too large and the loggers were almost certainly armed. All they could do was video the lorry and add the film to the growing mountain of evidence showing how the Awá – with only 355 surviving members, more than 100 of whom have had no contact with the outside world – are teetering on the edge of extinction.

It is a scene played out throughout the Amazon as the authorities struggle to tackle the powerful illegal logging industry. But it is not just the loss of the trees that has created a situation so serious that it led a Brazilian judge, José Carlos do Vale Madeira, to describe it as "a real genocide". People are pouring on to the Awá's land, building illegal settlements, running cattle ranches. Hired gunmen – known as pistoleros – are reported to be hunting Awá who have stood in the way of land-grabbers. Members of the tribe describe seeing their families wiped out. Human rights campaigners say the tribe has reached a tipping point and only immediate action by the Brazilian government to prevent logging can save the tribe.

This week Survival International will launch a new campaign to highlight the plight of the Awá, backed by Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth. In a video to be launched on Wednesday, Firth will ask the Brazilian government to take urgent action to protect the tribe. The 51-year-old, who starred in last year's hit movie The King's Speech, and came to prominence playing Mr Darcy in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, delivers an appeal to camera calling on Brazil's minister of justice to send in police to drive out the loggers.

The Awá are one of only two nomadic hunter-gathering tribes left in the Amazon. According to Survival, they are now the world's most threatened tribe, assailed by gunmen, loggers and hostile settler farmers.

Their troubles began in earnest in 1982 with the inauguration of a European Economic Community (EEC) and World Bank-funded programme to extract massive iron ore deposits found in the Carajás mountains. The EEC gave Brazil $600m to build a railway from the mines to the coast, on condition that Europe received a third of the output, a minimum of 13.6m tons a year for 15 years. The railway cut directly through the Awá's land and with the railway came settlers. A road-building programme quickly followed, opening up the Awá's jungle home to loggers, who moved in from the east.

It was, according to Survival's research director, Fiona Watson, a recipe for disaster. A third of the rainforest in the Awá territory in Maranhão state in north-east Brazil has since been destroyed and outsiders have exposed the Awá to diseases against which they have no natural immunity.

"The Awá and the uncontacted Awá are really on the brink," she said. "It is an extremely small population and the forces against them are massive. They are being invaded by loggers, settlers and cattle ranchers. They rely entirely on the forest. They have said to me: 'If we have no forest, we can't feed our children and we will die'."

But it appears that the Awá also face a more direct threat. Earlier this year an investigation into reports that an Awá child had been killed by loggers found that their tractors had destroyed the Awá camp.

"It is not just the destruction of the land; it is the violence," said Watson. "I have talked to Awá people who have survived massacres. I have interviewed Awá who have seen their families shot in front of them. There are immensely powerful people against them. The land-grabbers use pistoleros to clear the land. If this is not stopped now, these people could be wiped out. This is extinction taking place before our eyes."

What is most striking about the Funai undercover video of the loggers – apart from the sheer size of the trunks – is the absence of jungle in the surrounding landscape. Once the landscape would have been lush rainforest. Now it has been clear-felled, leaving behind just grass and scrub and only a few scattered clumps of trees.

Such is the Awá's affinity with the jungle and its inhabitants that if they find a baby animal during their hunts they take it back and raise it almost like a child, to the extent that the women will sometimes breastfeed the creature. The loss of their jungle has left them in a state of despair. "They are chopping down wood and they are going to destroy everything," said Pire'i Ma'a, a member of the tribe. "Monkeys, peccaries, tapir, they are all running away. I don't know how we are going to eat – everything is being destroyed, the whole area.

"This land is mine, it is ours. They can go away to the city, but we Indians live in the forest. They are going to kill everything. Everything is dying. We are all going to go hungry, the children will be hungry, my daughter will be hungry, and I'll be hungry too."

In an earlier interview with Survival, another member of the tribe, Karapiru, described how most of his family were killed by ranchers. "I hid in the forest and escaped from the white people. They killed my mother, my brothers and sisters and my wife," he said. "When I was shot during the massacre, I suffered a great deal because I couldn't put any medicine on my back. I couldn't see the wound: it was amazing that I escaped – it was through the Tupã [spirit]. I spent a long time in the forest, hungry and being chased by ranchers. I was always running away, on my own. I had no family to help me, to talk to. So I went deeper and deeper into the forest.

"I hope when my daughter grows up she won't face any of the difficulties I've had. I hope everything will be better for her. I hope the same things that happened to me won't happen to her."

The Survival campaign reflects growing international concern over the plight of the world's remaining indigenous tribes. Earlier this year the Observer revealed how police were colluding with tour operators in India's Andaman Islands to run human safaris into the jungle heartland of the protected Jarawa tribe. A video showing half-naked Jarawa women and girls dancing in return for food caused outrage in India and around the world. Further revelations followed, exposing human safaris in Orissa, in India, and in Peru, where tour operators are profiting from the exploitation of Amazon jungle tribes.

Meanwhile, drug traffickers are posing a threat to other Amazon tribes. Last year a previously uncontacted tribe was photographed from the air close to the Peru-Brazil border only to go missing a few months later after a gang of drug traffickers overpowered guards protecting their land.

The Brazilian embassy in London referred requests for a response to the president's Human Rights Secretariat, which did not respond. However, Brazil has recently been able to point to research that shows it has been making progress in tackling illegal logging. The country's National Institute for Space Research estimates that 6,238 sq km of rainforest was lost between 2010 and 2011, down dramatically from the 2004 peak of 27,700 sq km. The same year, Brazil pledged to cut deforestation by 80% by 2020.

The year-on-year fall last year was 11% and in March Brazil's forestry department raided and closed down 14 illegal sawmills on the borders of the Awá's land. Even so, the figures also show that two states recorded sharp rises in deforestation, and illegal logging is destroying the Awá's jungle at a faster rate than that of any other Amazon tribe.

In a statement, Survival urged the Brazilian government to give more support to Funai and to increase its efforts to shut down illegal activities in the Awá's territories. "Timing is crucial, and the timing of this is now, because while all hope is not lost an entire people are on the verge of being lost, most critically the uncontacted Awá. And we have a moral responsibility to act. EU and World Bank money has helped fund huge projects in Brazil that have exploited the Awá's land resources and made infrastructure ripe for developers."

The Survival International campaign will launch later this week at survivalinternational.org

Source: The Observer UK

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