STOPPRESS !!

Secretary-General seeks $7.1 billion to aid 48 million people in 2010

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Date: 30 Nov 2009
(Geneva: 30 November 2009): United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for $7.1 billion to provide urgent humanitarian aid to 48 million people in 25 countries worldwide. "Our aim is to help people survive the coming year, and start working their way out of vulnerability towards the dignity, safety and self-sufficiency to which every human being has a right" the Secretary-General said in the foreword to the Appeal.

The Humanitarian Appeal 2010 is the biggest Appeal ever launched since the creation of the Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) in 1991. It comprises twelve consolidated appeals, for Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, the occupied Palestinian territory, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, the West Africa region, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. The Appeal marks the culmination of a vast undertaking in which 380 aid organizations including United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations and other international organizations have united to meet the world's major humanitarian challenges in a strategic, coordinated, effective, and prioritized way. "We are here to ask for a response to the urgent call of people whose lives have been wrecked by conflict and natural disasters. The 2010 Appeal offers concrete help to these people in need," said John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. ""As we enter the last month of 2009, many governments have put in place large-scale financial bailouts and economic stimulus packages, putting pressure on other budget needs. […] My most important message for you here today is that humanitarian aid should be insulated from these budget pressures. If not, the people desperately affected by the severest natural disasters and conflicts will pay the price for a recession not of their making. To put today's appeal into perspective, the amount of humanitarian funding that we request for 2010 is far less than one percent of the amount spent on financial bailouts and economic stimulus," he added.

John Holmes presided over the launch of the Humanitarian Appeal 2010 this afternoon. The Director-General of the European Commission Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), Peter Zangl, the Secretary-General of Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, Wolfgang Jamann, and the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia in Geneva, Desra Percaya, also participated. Topic-specific presentations were given by the Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organisation in charge of Health Action in Crises, Eric Laroche, the Director of the Emergency Operations and Rehabilitation Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization, Laurent Thomas, the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the World Food Programme, Amir Abdulla, and the Chair of the Cluster Working Group on Early Recovery, Jennifer Worrell.

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NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Lawyers for the first detainee from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to face prosecution in the U.S. asked a federal judge on Tuesday to dismiss the criminal charges against him, saying his lengthy detention overseas and the use of interrogation techniques "amounting to torture" violated his constitutional rights.

In a motion Tuesday, lawyers for Ahmed Ghailani said the U.S. government made a "conscious and deliberate" decision to house him for two years at secret Central Intelligence Agency "black sites" and subject him to so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" in an effort to make him an intelligence asset.........

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Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc.—known for its outsize profits and unapologetically handsome pay packages to go with them—has begun meeting with major investors in an effort to ward off an investor backlash over its record compensation pool.

The private discussions are a first for Goldman, several shareholders said, as the Wall Street firm finds its self on the defensive over its pay, where employees are on track to earn an average of more than $700,000 apiece this year. The meetings are expected to last several more weeks and come as shareholders are filing proposals aimed at restricting pay ...

protest:Indigenous leader assassinated in Mexico Sat, 28 Nov 2009

An attacker riding a motorcycle has shot and killed indigenous leader and anti-mining activist Mariano Abarca outside his home in southeastern Mexico.

Abarca "was assassinated in a cowardly fashion outside his home" late on Friday, said Gustavo Castro, a spokesman for the Mexican Network of Communities Affected by Mining (REMA), adding that another member of the group was seriously wounded, AFP reported on Saturday.

An unidentified individual riding a motorcycle opened fire on the indigenous leader, shooting him twice in the head and in the chest in Chicomuselo, a town in the mountains of Chiapas state, Castro said, citing relatives.

In August 2009, Abarca was arrested for a week after he led highway blockades to prevent Canadian and Mexican-owned corporation Blackfire Exploration Ltd. from transporting minerals from a Mexican barite mine to processing facilities.

In September, the Mexican Congress demanded that the Chiapas government suspend arrest warrants and related law enforcement activities targeting five anti-mining activists in the area.

Chiapas community leaders have protested the mining operations led by 54 mostly foreign companies, saying they have not been properly informed about the impact they may have on their health, land, and environment.

SG/SS/HGL

IRISH STRIKE LETTERS AND COMMENTS:
Madam, – A virtue was made of the right to protest by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice when they spoke out about the “cheating” of Thierry Henry last week. I hope they remember that I and my colleagues in the public service will be marching today to exercise the very same right to protest against cheating and sleight of hand by certain politicians and certain major players in the banking industry.

We know their names.We have the evidence. It has been played over and over again. The only difference is that this is not a game.There’s too much at stake. We’re keeping our shoulders to the wheel for this precious little country of ours and we are taking it out onto the streets. There will be many calls to get rid of the lot of us, the usual waste of space insults, just like the calls to get rid of the Army recently. Like the Army, we are around in fair weather and foul, and we are not afraid to play our part in the rescue from this calamity that was visited upon us. We’re standing up for ourselves and the service we provide for the people of Ireland.Fair play demands talking to us, not walking over us. – Yours, etc,

TOM CONATY,

Madam, – I note with interest the results of the Irish Times/ Behaviour Attitudes poll (Home News, November 21st) and, in particular, the finding that almost 70 per cent of people have not had their pay cut in the past year. This comes as no surprise to me or my colleagues in the non-commercial public sector and confirms anecdotal evidence.

When one considers the overall numbers working in the Irish economy, it is clear that the majority of the 30 per cent that have had pay cuts in the last year are public servants (non-commercial) and, of course, this same group is now being targeted for further cuts in next month’s budget. This is not fair and this lack of fairness is the reason for today’s strike.

While I, along with many of my colleagues in the non-commercial public sector, am of the view that pay cuts, in addition to other measures including further taxes, are necessary if we are to get ourselves out of the current crisis, they must be across the board in every sector of the economy, both public and private. Cuts must be fair and must be seen to be so. Your survey confirms that to date this has not been the case.

Much of the commercial public sector (ESB, Bord Gais etc) has, far from cutting pay, actually given pay rises to staff. Even our zombie banks, entirely dependent on State support to avoid bankruptcy, have also handed out pay increases. This simply beggars belief. In the absence of fairness, I fear that we are moving closer and closer not just to further strike action but also to civil unrest. – Yours, etc,

BRENDAN WYSE,

Madam, – Hearing the announcement that members of Siptu, Impact and TEEU in Cork, Galway and Clare will work through today’s Day of Action, in order to support the flood efforts, I felt a tinge of optimism for this country’s future – something I have not felt in a very long time.

A great piece of PR for the unions and a glimmer of hope. Let’s stop being distracted by who has suffered most in the public versus private debate and let’s get on with uniting to achieve what’s most important – building a future for this country. – Yours, etc,

KIRSTY FITZGIBBON,

Madam, – I am a college lecturer and a public servant. I am 34 years old and I have been teaching for five years. I work full-time hours and am not on a permanent contract. I earn €34,000 per annum, which includes a supplement for a first-class postgraduate degree. I am not secure, but I love my job. I have a nine-month-old son and a self-employed wife, whose business has all but disappeared.

I see Government Ministers’ ludicrous salaries and their sickening expense claims. I see them pretend to take control of our affairs and then be bullied and dictated to by corrupt banks. I see them U-turn, flip-flop and cynically test the waters of public opinion. I see them manipulate facts, talk about “averages” in public service pay and drive a wedge between the workers. I see them pay off crooks and conmen.

I am not striking for more money or for better conditions. I am striking for a cap of about €100,000 on public service salaries, including those of Government Ministers. I am striking for more equitable taxation. I am striking for those who can’t strike and for those who won’t. I am striking for the moral high ground that our Government can see but has chosen not to take. – Yours, etc,

ALAN C.

Does this picture show British soldiers
broke Geneva Conventions?

Public inquiry to be launched into allegations of abuse against Iraqi civilians at UK-run detention camp

By Robert Verkaik, Home Affairs EditorThe Independent, UK.

Tuesday, 24 November 2009

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A photograph handed to The Independent claims to show Iraqi civilians captured in southern Iraq being mistreated by British soldiers in breach of international law and the Geneva Conventions.

The incident is to be investigated at a public inquiry to be announced tomorrow by Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth, which will also examine evidence of one of the worst atrocities ever carried out by the British Army.

It is claimed that hours after the picture, left, was taken, the four men were transferred to a UK-run detention camp where they were badly beaten and where 20 other civilians were murdered by British soldiers.

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Lawyers for the men say the photograph, held by the Army since May 2004 but only disclosed this year, supports evidence of the routine abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

The covering of a prisoner's face and rear handcuffing on the ground is a breach of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions which prohibits the humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees.

When this is done to support interrogations, as in this case, it also contravenes Article 31: prohibition of physical and moral coercion. It is also a breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as the Army's own rules on the hooding of prisoners.

The International Committee of the Red Cross raised concerns about similar breaches in February 2004 when it warned the UK and US governments of these practices. The new evidence will add to calls for a full and proper public inquiry into 33 further abuse cases involving allegations against the British Army in Iraq between 2003 and 2008.

Last night, Lord David Ramsbotham, a former commander of the British Field Army and a former chief inspector of prisons, said he believed the picture showed inhuman and degrading treatment. He told The Independent: "There can be few people who have not been sickened, and saddened, by the images of Iraqi citizens being subjected to what is well described as inhuman and degrading treatment, at the hands of certain British soldiers.

"Sickened because this is not the kind of treatment associated with a nation that calls itself civilised; saddened because it besmirches the reputation of the British Army, so carefully preserved by so many people in many different circumstances," he said.

Kevin Laue, the legal adviser to Redress, which works with victims of torture, said: "In my view, what the photograph shows could well constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment ... they appear to have been blindfolded to such an extent that almost their whole face has been covered, including the nose and even the mouth, which if so would obviously make normal breathing difficult...

"The photograph raises numerous questions which would need to be asked and answered to decide if the treatment could be justified. On the face of it, it is wrong," he said.

Phil Shiner, the lawyer who pushed for a public inquiry into the alleged massacre and mutilation of 20 Iraqi civilians in the aftermath of the Battle of "Danny Boy", which involved British forces, near Basra in May 2004, said: "The MoD conceded an inquiry not simply because of late disclosure, but because much of that disclosure supported our clients' allegations.

"This evidence had gone uninvestigated by the Royal Military Police, undermined the MoD's case and showed how it had been misrepresented to the court. An inquiry is essential so that lessons can be urgently learned and, where necessary, perpetrators brought to justice in relation to this incident and the hundreds of other cases involving civilians that we now know went uninvestigated in Iraq."

Government lawyers admitted in the summer that in 2004 the Armed Forces minister had written a draft confidential letter, addressed to No 10, which referred to complaints made by the International Committee of the Red Cross in connection with the alleged ill-treatment of detainees held by the Army after the battle. It was the discovery of this correspondence which led the Government to withdraw its defence to a judicial inquiry into the alleged massacre and abuse of the Iraqis.

Lawyers for the Iraqis and the families of those who died said the case raised allegations that were among the most serious in modern British military history. Tomorrow, Mr Ainsworth will tell Parliament the name of the judge chosen to head the inquiry, referred to as Al Sweady after the lead claimant in the case.

The Government has always maintained that the victims were all killed in battle while their families' lawyers say they were innocent farmers who tried to flee the fighting.

An MoD spokesman said: "We have found no credible evidence that those detained, as a result of the attack on British troops and prolonged fire-fight at the Danny Boy checkpoint, were mistreated.

"The treatment of the detainees shown in the photograph does not amount to a breach of the Geneva Conventions, it is important to remember that our first priority at the end of such attacks is to protect our personnel from further threats.

"The events that followed will, in due course, be considered by the Al Sweady inquiry."

Geneva Conventions

*Hooding, cuffing and forced to lie in stress positions in the sun:

Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions prohibits the humiliating and degrading treatment of detainees.

*Article 31 of the Conventions prohibits physical and moral coercion techniques used to support interrogations.

*Article 3 of the European Conventions on Human Rights bans inhuman and degrading treatment.

The Army's own rules forbid hooding of prisoners and handcuffing their arms behind their back on the ground.

Covering the faces in this way restricts breathing, and to all intents and purposes, is the same as hooding. Its use in May 2004 contradicts the assurances given by the Armed Forces minister in 2004 and General Brims in 2006 to the Parliamentary Joint Human Rights Committee that hooding/face covering had been effectively outlawed.

*Handcuffing to the rear restricts breathing, has been known to lead to deaths in custody and renders a prisoner unable to break his fall if pushed.