We are all one.

Rich countries launch great land grab to safeguard food supply

2009-01-21T17:23:00.000+01:00

Rich governments and corporations are triggering alarm for the poor as they buy up the rights to millions of hectares of agricultural land in developing countries…

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Anti-democratic nature of US capitalism is being exposed

2009-01-09T23:27:00.000+01:00

"Financial liberalisation has effects well beyond the economy. It has long been understood that it is a powerful weapon against democracy. Free capital movement creates what some have called a "virtual parliament" of investors and lenders, who closely monitor government programmes and "vote" against them if they are considered irrational: for the benefit of people, rather than concentrated private power."

Noam Chomsky

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WEST AFRICA: Do high food prices warrant a cash response?

2008-11-21T14:46:00.000+01:00

DAKAR, 3 September 2008 (IRIN) - Experts say many of the right conditions are in place across West Africa to make cash distributions work in the current global food price crisis.

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Safety nets help to climate-proof the poor

2008-11-21T14:44:00.000+01:00

A unique safety net programme being piloted in Ethiopia, which attempts to break away from the traditional humanitarian model, is being punted in the UN Development Programme's Human Development Report 2007/2008 as a "bold attempt" to tackle food security threats posed by an uncertain climate.

Copyright © IRIN 2008

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Indian Institute of Data Interpretation and Analysis

2008-04-19T16:18:00.001+02:00

Ladli-smykket laget av gatebarn i India.

2008-04-19T16:01:00.001+02:00

Tekst: Camilla FlaattenFoto: Camilla Flaatten og promoDato: 05.10.2007
Ladli-smykket laget av gatebarn i India.
A&C-gründer Birgit Løitegaard. «Arts & Crafts»-gründer Birgit Løitegaard reiste på ferietur med datteren sin til India da de fikk tilbud om å besøke smykkebyen Jaipur. Der møtte Birgit Abha og hennes ektemann Prabhakar Goswami som startet prosjektet «i-india» og barnehjemmet Ladli med sikte på å hjelpe foreldreløse gatebarn i byen. - Det var en fantastisk opplevelse å møte disse to menneskene som siden 1993 har viet sitt liv til å hjelpe barna i slummen. De har tatt barna inn, gitt de et sted å sove, mat og skolegang. Jeg visste intuitivt at dette var noe jeg ville være med på, forteller Birgit til HENNE.no.
Hjelper mange
Ladli-smykkene er laget av halvedeslstener. De små posene er sydd av guttene og kjedene er laget av jentene. Inntektene fra kjedene går i sin helhet til barna å barnehjemmet. - Et solgt smykke betyr mat til femti gatebarn, og absolutt alle pengene går til å hjelpe barna. Jeg har selv merket hvor mye prosjektet engasjerer. Til min 50-års dag fikk jeg alle venner og familie til å gi pengegaver til Ladli, barn har hatt basar til inntekt for gatebarna der og barneskoler har engasjert seg med innsamlinger, sier Birgit. Ekteparet Goswami driver i dag barnehjemmet Ladli for 140 barn og de hjelper rundt 400 gatebarn daglig. Barna selv deltar i produksjonen og daglig lages det smykker ved barnehjemmet. Jentene lager smykkene og guttene syr de små posene kjedene kommer i. - Produksjonenekan hjelpe barna ut i arbeidslivet ved at de lærer seg håndverket og må ikke forveksles med barnearbeid, forteller Birgit.Ladli-smykket selges i norske «Arts & Crafts»-butikker over hele landet og koster fra 200 til 250 kroner for henholdsvis et kort og et langt smykke.

http://www.henne.no/php/art.php?id=491311

From street child to surgeon, Indian girl follows dream

2008-04-19T15:55:00.000+02:00

FEATURE-From street child to surgeon, Indian girl follows dream
19 Feb 2007

By Jeremy Lovell

JAIPUR, India, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Former child prostitute Chand has a burning ambition -- to be a doctor helping India's destitute millions.
And the 16-year-old girl is bright enough to realise her dream, according to the charity that 10 years ago rescued her from the teeming streets of the northern Indian city of Jaipur with a population of some three million people.
"I want to be a surgeon. There are too many people and too few doctors here," the slim youngster told Reuters on a visit to the Ladli centre where she lives and learns in the sprawling metropolis dubbed the Pink City from the colour of its walls.
"That is my goal. In my society girls have very little chance to get an education. Here I have a chance," she added, seated under a tree in the dusty yard of the school.
Her story is as heart-rending as it is common. Only the end is different -- maybe.
Women, still considered by many as a commodity even in the 21st century, are neglected in the educational system and often sidelined in the social hierarchy.
According to UNICEF -- the United Nations' Childrens' Fund -- there are over two million prostitutes in India of whom some 500,000 are children or minors.
Some reports suggest that up to 200 women and children a day are forced into the world's oldest profession to pay debts or simply to provide an income for their families.
OUTREACH RESCUE
Chand's mother was a prostitute with 16 children living in Japiur's red light area, and the girl -- her family name has been withheld to protect her -- was already a child prostitute when she ran away to eke an existence on the streets aged six.
Ladli outreach workers found her and took her in to the sanctuary that it offers for abused, orphaned and destitute children in the Rajasthan state capital of 2.8 million people, 260 km (160 miles) southwest of Delhi.
"We try to give the children here their lives back," said founder Abha Goswami, 50. "We are giving love to our children. We are giving care to our children."
Goswami, whose mother died when she was just 18 months old and who was orphaned at 16, founded the I-India project in 1993 giving help to 500 of Jaipur's street children.
Three years later it set up the Child Inn boys home and the Ladli girls home and in 2000 it got its two School on Wheels buses touring the streets offering basic reading and writing lessons to children who would otherwise have no education.
Last year some 3,000 children passed through the hands of Goswami and her helpers -- either through the buses or the four homes and one vocational centre -- also called Ladli -- that I-India now operates.
GIVING LIFE TO CHILDREN
But resources are scarce. The organisation can not offer residential care to more than a handful of children, so the majority go back home or onto the streets every night.
"We have street children, runaways, orphans, children of prostitutes -- often child prostitutes themselves -- and abandoned children from divided families," Goswami said. "But we can't feed everyone in our homes."
Even for Chand, there is the constant threat of her past dragging her back to wreck her future.
"If I saw my family again they would want me back to become a prostitute again to earn money," she said simply.
It is an endless struggle with scant help from the government and the centre heavily reliant on its own fund raising and foreign sponsors of individual projects.
One such project is for the children to make and sell jewellery.
At the moment it is 50 percent funded by a sponsor, but the goal is to make it completely self-sufficient -- and for each piece that is sold some money is put into a bank account for the girls for when they grow up and leave.
The projects are a beacon of light in a country whose economy is booming but where some 35 million of the one billion population are orphans and where around 300 million people are living on less than $1 a day -- of whom 140 million are children.
"Our children are safe here. We feed them and teach them ... We give them skills and hope, so they can make their way and earn a living later in life," Goswami said.
"For just a few dollars a day we can give life back to a child here," she added.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL174608.htm

Childrens rights in India.

2008-03-28T08:11:00.000+01:00

The Child Labour Act, bans the employment of children, below 14 years of age in specified occupations and processes which are considered unsafe and harmful to child workers and regulates the conditions of work of children in employment?s where they are not prohibited from working.

It also lays down penalties for employment of children in violation of the provisions of this Act, and other Acts which forbid the employment of children;
The Act extends to the whole of India. The Child Labour Act of 1986 applies to all establishments and workshops wherein any industrial process is carried on (excluding one covered under section 67 of the Factories Act, 1948).

An "establishment" includes a shop, commercial establishment, workshop, farm, residential hotel, and restaurant, eating house, theatre or other place of public amusement or entertainment.

It is a very weak law that is not even enforced.

2008-01-06T09:02:00.000+01:00

http://www.crin.org/

2007-12-15T18:01:00.000+01:00

Tog fra Kerala til Goa

Turistkart Goa

Kart over India

Landprofil Guinea 2007

2007-11-25T19:02:00.000+01:00

Les den her:

Western politicians and idle citizens - China taking action

2007-11-20T07:43:00.000+01:00

"I have yet to hear a single politician mention that China is closing down more power stations than it is building" Jonathon Porritt

And there is much more in that particular pipeline too. Unlike our politicians (let alone our citizenry), who really don’t understand the immediacy and the seriousness of the impacts of climate change, China’s politicians absolutely get it. They are already experiencing those impacts, directly and very painfully, in terms of accelerating desertification, reductions in agricultural yields, saline incursion into key groundwater aquifers near the coast, changing patterns of precipitation, increased incidence of storms and droughts. As Dong Weng Jie, director general of the Beijing Climate Centre puts it: “Records for worst-in-a-century rainstorms, droughts and heat waves are being broken more and more often.”

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Sting operation alleges new evidence of state complicity in Gujarat riots

2007-11-13T18:43:00.001+01:00

Tehelka’s expose reveals shocking facts about the 2002 Gujarat riots and the part played by senior politicians and policemen in the state

A national newsmagazine and website has put out fresh evidence of the alleged complicity of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in planning and executing the 2002 Gujarat riots, as well as shielding the perpetrators. The publication’s undercover reporter filmed several high-profile individuals giving accounts of their activities before and during the riots.

On October 25, Tehelka released the contents of ‘Operation Kalank’, which was also carried in its story, ‘The Truth: Gujarat 2002’, to widespread outrage across India and beyond.

Source:
www.ndtv.com, June 19, 2007
The Indian Express, June 19, 2007
www.bbcnews.com, June 19, 2007
Reuters, June 18, 2007

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GUINEA: EU aid back but social problems remain

2007-11-01T09:35:00.000+01:00

CONAKRY, 25 December 2006 (IRIN)

The European Union and Guinea signed a deal on Friday to turn the spigot on EU aid for the first time in four years, but transparency and economic issues still dog the country’s creaking post-socialist economy, and the aid will not dent the main concerns of powerful unions that called strikes twice this year.

EU aid to Guinea was frozen in 2002 over concerns about the state of democracy in the poor West African country, and blocked completely after roundly criticised presidential elections in 2003 returned septuagenarian President Lansana Conte to power.

In 2005, the government ended decades of state control over information by setting up independent media outlets and earlier this month founded an independent electoral commission, meeting two of the EU’s main criteria.

On Friday, it was agreed that 117 million euros - the ninth tranche of Guinea’s European Development Fund (EDF) money - will hit Guinea’s accounts next year. A tenth, larger disbursement, depends on Guinea’s meeting the final EU condition by holding “free and fair” legislative elections in spring 2007.

Map of Guinea

"Ninety one percent of this money will go into infrastructure development", Mamady Conde, Guinea’s foreign minister told IRIN, and almost all of that will be ploughed into roads.

"We also attach priority to water and electricity because they are essential to improving the peoples' lives" he said, but added that Spanish and Japanese development assistance would be tapped for those sectors.

Development officials have compared Guinea’s run-down public infrastructure to that found in post-conflict countries. The disintegration of the only road which links Guinea’s second largest city Nzerekore in the remote southeast to Conakry triggered a major protest in the 500,000-strong city in November.

In the capital Conakry, a sprawling palm tree-fringed maze of shacks, gutted buildings and rutted tracks, things are not much better. Electricity is rarely on even in government buildings. Hunger, violent crime, diseases and unemployment are all soaring among ordinary cash-strapped Guineans.

Transparency still a problem

The EU's democracy-tied money will not address the governance problems that diplomats, donors and civil society blame for Guinea’s economy barely registering 2 percent growth this year, despite billions of dollars of investment in the country’s valuable iron and bauxite mines, and for worsening living conditions for the poorest.

“The real priority is to fight corruption and increase the level of governance, then the economy would work better and there would be more money for education and health services,” a senior western diplomat said.

Since March 2005, when the government liberalised its foreign exchange market, the local currency’s value has plummeted, meaning prices for imported goods like rice and textiles have soared. Even small purchases now require armloads of cash.

High global oil prices have contributed to a tripling of pump prices and inflation is still hovering around 31 percent.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2000 offered to drop US $545 million of Guinea’s debt under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. However, the IMF’s offer is tied to the country’s financial management and transparency - conditions which the Fund deems unmet.

“Our objective is to make sure some of the resources flow to the poor,” the IMF’s Guinea representative Alvin Hilaire said.

Strikes could turn nasty

Striking Guineans protesting inflation and high oil prices ground the capital city Conakry to a halt twice in 2006. The main plank of the union’s demands to the country’s government is that energy prices should be cut and inflation curbed.

“An ordinary worker still cannot afford to have an education, or to educate his children, or have running water in his house,” Rabiatou Serah Diallo, secretary-general of the National Federation of Guinean Workers and a mastermind of the strikes, told IRIN in an exclusive interview in late

Rabiatou Serah Diallo, union leader, doesn't rule out more strikes

November.

Rabiatou Serah Diallo, union leader, doesn't rule out more strikes

Union leader Diallo refused to rule out the possibility of more strikes, while other civil society leaders have warned that as the strikes appeal has extended far beyond union members, there is a risk the movement could easily spiral out of control.

A strike in November 2005 turned violent when protestors clashed with security forces and smashed up cars and taxis. Then in June 2006, the government confirmed 11 dead across the country after strike-related clashes between college students and police. International human rights groups put the toll at between 13 and 21 dead.

“The corruption and failure of public services we see in Guinea now looks very much like what we saw in the pre-conflict period in Liberia and Sierra Leone,” warned the Conakry-based secretary general of the Mano River Union regional organisation, Aliou Diallo.

“If the government continues to ignore civil society, it is completely plausible that there will be an uncontrollable uprising because everyone agrees this situation cannot go on.”

Diplomats say another question mark hangs over how the government and the military will orchestrate a transition when the ageing and ailing Conte dies.

“Other countries have come undone over far less,” a second western diplomat in Conakry told IRIN last month. “Guinea is a country on the brink, but of what we are not sure.”

GUINEA: Civil society crystallising around unions

2007-11-01T09:34:00.000+01:00

Guinea is one of just 34 countries in the world with life expectancy less than 49 despite vast natural wealth

CONAKRY, 11 January 2007 (IRIN)

Guineans in the capital Conakry have already shuttered their shops and stayed home twice in the past year for citywide strikes, but a third, more ambitious indefinite national strike underway this week is proving a strength and unity among Guinea's civil society not seen since independence.

"There's really a growing solidarity among the movement now, it's becoming more like a social movement and the strength of civil society is really showing itself," Elisabeth Cote, Guinea representative of the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) said on Thursday, the second day of the strike.

The strikes in March and June last year and again this week were organised by the National Confederation of Guinean Workers (CNTG) and the Guinean Workers Union (USTG), two formerly rival unions that united in 2005 to protest 30 percent inflation, tripling fuel prices and worsening standards of living for ordinary Guineans.

After last year's strikes, opposition political parties and other civil society members complained that if they had been consulted by the unions beforehand they could have contributed support and weight.

This time, two non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the National Council of Civil Society Organisations, an umbrella group for NGOs, and the Civic Alliance, a new grouping with branches nationwide, have coordinated with the unions. They plan to hold demonstrations calling for "a return to the rule of law" in the wake of persistent human rights abuses and impunity on and after 15 January, despite a government ban on demonstrations issued on Tuesday night.

Both Guinea's main political opposition parties, the Rally for the Guinean People (RPG) and Union of Republican Forces (UFR), have also thrown their support behind the unions and called for their members to follow a campaign of civil disobedience, also from 15 January onwards.

"We have supported the unions that have taken all the responsibility for saving the republic and have given the word ordering the general unlimited strike. We call on our members not to wait with their arms crossed," Sidya Toure, president of the UFR, said on Tuesday.

Leaders from the Roman Catholic Church and the city's mosques, and the two NGO alliances, met with Guinea's First Lady Henriette Conte on Wednesday to present a proposed exit strategy from the strike. President Conte is in his 70s and is said to rarely make public appearances or attend meetings.

"While there is a hard dividing line between what are considered unions, political parties and civil society as far as Guineans are concerned, there is definitely a dialogue or a conversation happening at all levels, and that is as true now as prior to the strike," a senior Western diplomat in Conakry said.

Representatives of the unions, political opposition and civil society have also been meeting a military committee set up after the June strike to avoid repeats of clashes between students and riot police when 11 youths were shot and dozens injured. The civil-military committee does not include any members of the government. There have been no reports of fighting between civilians and state security services anywhere in Guinea this week, although soldiers are maintaining a heavy presence in Conakry.

The union-led movement is able to unite Guinea's previously weak and fractured civil society because Guineans perceive it as more legitimate than the political opposition, Mike McGovern, a Guinea expert at Yale University said. "The opposition parties have shown themselves intent on capturing power but have not presented a credible programme showing how they would govern differently to the government in place."

"When people say politics in Guinea it means dirty politics, where the game is to come out on top, but the unions are talking about the wider field of politics in which social, economic and cultural factors come into it," McGovern said. "[The unions] are talking about people's life chances, so when they say they are only concerned with people's well-being, that's tremendously powerful."

Guinea's unions are seen as symbolically important because of their key role in ending colonisation in Guinea and installing the country's first post-independence president, former union leader Sekou Toure in 1960, although Toure went on to break up and then ban the unions because they threatened his heavy-handed one-party rule.

After Toure died in 1984 and Conte took power, unions and opposition parties were nominally reauthorised, but it was not until 2004 when the unions started agitating for improved standards of living and stabilisation of Guinea's runaway economy that they won support from beyond their traditional bases.

The ruling Party of Unity and Progress (PUP) party has nonetheless accused union leaders of moving beyond their social mandate to adopt political goals, and of being backed by opposition political parties.

"Behind these unions are the opposition parties that do not want peace in this country," Sekou Konate, secretary general of the PUP said on Tuesday. He pointed to a new demand this week by the unions that a prominent businessman accused of corruption, who has ties to President Conte, be imprisoned, and the transport minister be removed as evidence of politicisation.

Ibrahima Fofana, secretary general of the USTG, dismissed the accusation of politicisation but said it is impossible to talk about the economic and social problems in the country without criticising the nation’s leaders. "All the country is tired of this regime that has shown its incapability at every level in the course of the last years," he said on Wednesday evening.

Guinea has some of the richest seams of gold, iron and bauxite in Africa, as well as thousands of kilometres of fertile land and vast water sources but Conte, an eccentric military colonel known for his love of fast cars and cigarettes, has failed to translate the vast natural wealth into either improved employment, income or life expectancy for the majority.

Although he is credited with overturning Toure's authoritarian regime and improving human rights, elections returning him to power have been widely discredited and the country has been deemed among the most corrupt in the world.

"If the strike goes on longer than one week the economic and political consequences are going to be felt," McGovern predicted. "The condition for the strike going forward is that people have little to lose. Staying home, not working or collecting a paycheque is inconsequential given the lack of purchasing power. The longer it goes on, the more cards are in the hand of the unions."

GUINEA: Conte mulling union ultimatum as security forces crack down

2007-11-01T09:33:00.001+01:00

CONAKRY, 15 January 2007 (IRIN)

After a day of violence during which security forces clashed with protestors in several Conakry suburbs, union leaders on Monday evening presented Guinean President Lansana Conte with an ultimatum to either reform his government or face mass nationwide demonstrations.

The National Confederation of Guinean Workers (CNTG) and the Guinean Workers Union (USTG), which last Wednesday called an indefinite and widely observed national strike, met with Conte on Monday night and demanded he hand over all his presidential powers, name a new prime minister, and authorise that person to name a new government, according to a senior union leader who attended the meeting.

The unions said the new candidate should not come from the military, which is still effectively headed by Conte, a former colonel now in his 70’s who seized power in 1984 in a coup.

“We asked the president to nominate a new prime minister and give him power to run the country because we now know the president’s health has deteriorated and he is no longer in charge of the day to day administration of the state,” said the union official, who requested anonymity.

The ultimatum marks a serious turn in the small, impoverished country led by Conte, one of the region’s longest-serving rulers. Regional analysts and civil society in Guinea have been warning since 2005 that Guinea’s spiralling national economy, growing inequality and rampant corruption have put the nation on the brink of the same kind of institutional failure and factionalism that plunged its neighbours Liberia and Sierra Leone into conflict in the 1990s.

Ibrahima Fofana, secretary general of the USTG, confirmed later on Monday that the union had demanded that Conte change the government and warned the unions would mobilise widespread protests if Conte refuses to act by Tuesday.

“If the president doesn’t respect the proposition, he is inviting a general movement and we will invite all Guineans to actively participate in demonstrations,” Fofana said.

The unions’ demand and ultimatum marks a significant shift from their policy in two other strikes in the capital, Conakry, last year of backing away from calling for protests. The unions have won support throughout Guinea, and the strike action has shut down almost all business and activity in most towns and cities.

Day of clashes

The union ultimatum follows a day of clashes between Guineans and state security services in some of Conakry’s poorest suburbs.

Intermittent automatic weapons fire was heard in the Matoto, Hambaleye, Koloma and Bambeto Cosa districts of Conakry from around 10 AM onwards after armed police, gendarmes and the Guinean military moved in to fight stone throwing youths who had set up makeshift barricades of burning tyres.

Fighting had died down by midday but there were dozens of tear gas canisters, bullet casings and stones littering the streets after the clashes. There were no reports of dead or wounded, and witnesses said the police were mostly shooting above the heads of people in the crowds.

Local residents nonetheless accused the gendarmes and police of using excessive force, breaking into houses and stealing food, money and mobile phones. “The military came, they beat me, destroyed my house and threw all my food on the floor,” said Marian Silla from the Koloma district.

The police commissariat in Conakry refused to comment on the accusations of excessive force on Monday afternoon.

Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), warned the Guinean security forces still have a “culture of impunity” which led to widespread looting and attacks on civilians during similar operations in Conakry last year. HRW has accused the state security services of committing rapes during those operations but there were no reports of sexual assaults on Monday.

“There have been several incidents over the last several years in which the security forces have killed demonstrators and also gone into neighbourhoods during civil disturbances and perpetrated crimes themselves. There is a real culture of impunity, so we are urging the police to act within the law and to use restraint,” Dufka said.

Violence was also reported in the Matoto and Hamdalaye suburbs on 10 January, the first day of the strike. Then too, barricades of burning tyres were set up, and security officers were brought in.

Several of Conakry’s suburbs have effectively become no-go areas for police and most Guineans. Ruled by armed gangs, the level of violence, including with guns, have led locals to dub the run-down districts “The Gulf” and “Baghdad” after war-zones in the Middle East.

Civil society under fire

Leaders of Guinea’s political opposition called last week for a campaign of peaceful civil opposition to start on Monday, backed by the unions, and two NGOs had also planned to hold peaceful protests in Conakry despite a government order against demonstrations. The ensuing violent protests on Monday were not backed by any of the strike coordinators or unions.

On Sunday, police briefly arrested 12 members of the National Council of Civil Society Organisations (CNOSCG) youth organisation, one of the groups that had planned the peaceful protest. CNOSCG members said the 12 were discovered making placards to carry. Organisers subsequently cancelled Monday’s peaceful demonstration, which had been expected to take the form of a prayer meeting.

At least another 80 people from throughout Conakry were arrested on Sunday, diplomatic sources said. IRIN correspondents there saw three military trucks of prisoners being driven away from the Bamboto district on Monday morning.

“Everyone who was arrested overstepped the bounds of the strike because they attacked the police and tried to break into shops. They will face justice,” said a police official who identified himself as Superintendant Mansare on Guinean national radio on Monday afternoon.

Guinea’s unions have called the strikes to protest what they say is a rising cost of living and growing hardship among ordinary Guineans as inflation has topped 30 percent, fuel prices have tripled, and basic road, water and communications infrastructure has crumbled.

The country achieved just two percent growth last year despite having extensive reserves of precious metals and growing foreign investment. It is ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world, according to international corruption monitoring groups.

In two strikes last year, the unions called for the government to take action to curb the cost of living and stabilise the economy, as well as to raise the minimum wage. Union leaders say they called off the strikes after promises from the government that were not honoured.

In this latest strike the unions have explicitly linked the country’s economic decline to its leadership and said they will not stand down until their demands are met.

GUINEA: Strike violence spreads nationwide

2007-11-01T09:31:00.000+01:00

CONAKRY, 17 January 2007 (IRIN)

At least three people were killed in demonstrations against Guinean president Lansana Conte that rocked Conakry and several provincial towns on Wednesday, and a late evening meeting between strike leaders and the president failed to bring an end to the crisis.

Guinea’s powerful unions called a nationwide strike a week ago. Union leaders said they orchestrated Wednesday’s march because Conte "ignored" a written demand delivered on Monday that he retire the current cabinet and appoint a new prime minister to take over all his presidential powers.

A meeting late on Wednesday between union leaders and president Conte ended acrimoniously, according to Rabiatou Serah Diallo, head of the National Confederation of Guinean Workers (CNTG) union. "He threatened to have us killed if we didn't call the strike off," she said. Click here for her exclusive interview with IRIN

On Wednesday evening, a banner reading “End the Conte regime, we want change” was still hanging in Kaloum, Conakry’s government district, after peaceful protests there in the morning that turned violent when riot police broke up the crowds with tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition.

One demonstrator died of gunshot wounds, and at least six others were critically injured in demonstrations in Kaloum that continued throughout the day, witnesses and Conakry-based diplomats said. One man was also shot dead during separate clashes in the lawless Bambeta Cosa suburb of Conakry, residents said.

Marches in the provincial towns Mamou, Kankan, Fria, Nzerekore, Pita, Labe and Kindia were also broken up by armed police. In Labe, 250 km northeast of Conakry, demonstrators sacked government offices, and one was killed, according to residents.

Speaking on Guinean national radio, police superintendent Mansou Mansare denied that the security services were responsible for the deaths and said they were there to "protect the marchers".

Previous skirmishes in Conakry between youths and police have been confined to the sprawling city’s remote suburbs, mostly Matoto and Bambeta Cosa, and none has reached the centre before. There were no demonstrations in the city centre during two city-wide strikes last year.

The unions accuse Conte of having presided over the mismanagement of the mineral rich but impoverished country’s economy, and allege the aging president is now too sick to deal with the country’s chronic problems, a claim backed by foreign observers.

In a statement read on state television on Tuesday evening, Conte said he needed more time to consider the union’s demands that he change the government, but did offer to cut the cost of fuel and to force foreign mining companies to keep their revenues in the country.

“The solution to the strike is in the hands of President Conte and the institutions of the Republic,” Rabiatou Serah Diallo, secretary general of the National Confederation of Guinean Workers (CNTG) union said on Wednesday, before the meeting with Conte. “We will continue the fight until our demands have been met satisfactorily.”

Conte seized power in a coup in 1984 and has been returned to power in successive elections since 1993 that have been widely criticised by the international community.

Donors and human rights groups feted the growing strength of civil society's opposition to Conte’s regime while protests were peaceful, but warn that civil strife in Guinea could threaten progress made in neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone which both experienced devastating civil wars until 2003, dragging the region back into war.

GUINEA: Union leader vows to fight on

2007-11-01T09:28:00.000+01:00

CONAKRY, 17 January 2007 (IRIN)

In an exclusive interview, Rabiatou Serah Diallo, leader of one of two main unions behind Guinea’s strikes, told IRIN that a march on Wednesday that turned violent was supposed to be peaceful, and blamed the security forces for instigating the violence, but said the unions will not back down.

Guinea’s two largest unions, the Guinean Workers Union (USTG) and the National Confederation of Guinean Workers (CNTG), of which Diallo is secretary general, launched a widely observed nationwide strike in Guinea last Wednesday.Click here for news of situation in Conakry

Veering away from their previous demands that the government improve living conditions for ordinary Guineans, the unions last week explicitly linked the country’s economic problems to its leadership.

On Monday Diallo and her USTG counterpart Ibrahima Fofana delivered an ultimatum to President Conte to reform his government and relinquish his powers, but on Tuesday in a message delivered by the president of the National Assembly, Conte asked for more time to consider.

On Wednesday three people were killed and at least six injured by security forces in demonstrations in Conakry and seven provincial towns. A subsequent meeting between Diallo, Fofana and President Conte failed to draw a line under the strikes.

IRIN: Why did you call for the march on Wednesday?

DIALLO: “We organised it because we are convinced that the message delivered yesterday evening by the president of the National Assembly did not come directly from President Conte. We do not have confidence because the head of state told us that he would study the document and would respond personally to the proposals.”

IRIN: What happened that made the march turn violent?

DIALLO: “We marched until we saw a tank and military trucks ahead of us. We were very satisfied because we had a well-attended and pacific march. But I believe that the security forces got the order to fire on us. They opened fire and launched tear gas.”

IRIN: What other incidents did you experience on the march?

DIALLO: “We returned to the union headquarters where we had the impression that a crowd was waiting for us. We were suprised to see riot police firing at the crowd with rubber bullets. They were shooting and breaking windows until we were inside the building. Everything is broken there.”

IRIN: What will you do next?

DIALLO: “The solution to this strike is in the hands of President Conte and the institutions of the Republic. We have made our proposition. It is up to President Conte to take us seriously, because we say [he] is incapable of leading the country because of his sickness. We will continue to fight until the total satisfaction of our points. The movement continues around the country.”

GUINEA: Unprecedented violence hits capital and provinces

2007-11-01T09:26:00.000+01:00

CONAKRY, 22 January 2007 (IRIN)

Security forces shot dead at least 20 people on Monday as tens of thousands of Guineans turned out to demonstrate against President Lansana Conte in the biggest nationwide show of discontent in his 23-year rule.

In the capital, Conakry, violent clashes between protestors and the Guinean army were reported in most of the sprawling city’s suburbs, with protestors “pouring” into main city streets from as far as 20km outside the city centre, witnesses said. Eleven corpses with gunshot wounds were admitted to one city morgue, and six others to morgues elsewhere, hospital staff told IRIN. Three other people were reported killed in the often violent suburb of Hambaleye.

In the far-eastern town of Kankan, observers estimated that 20,000 people began marching in the morning, but three hours of violence ensued after the army started shooting into the unarmed and largely peaceful crowd. At least three people were critically injured, but casualties could not be confirmed as shooting was still ongoing, residents said.

In Kissidougou, local residents also reported a peaceful demonstration in the morning, which by mid-afternoon had been broken up by the army. Residents said soldiers were chasing unarmed protestors through the town streets and shooting into crowds.

Demonstrations and shooting by the army were also reported in the towns of Labe, Pita, and Dabola. The restive southeastern city of Nzerekore, where residents say three people were shot and at least 21 wounded in protests over the weekend, remained calm on Monday.

“These were huge crowds and it wasn’t like other days when it was more like gangs. This time it was normal families, women, teenagers, heads of family marching. It was a vast crowd,” a resident in Kankan said.

“There were different groups around the city that started marching towards the government buildings,” he said. “Then the military came and started shooting randomly. There were bullets going everywhere.”

Guinea is now in the 13th day of an “indefinite” strike called by the country’s powerful trade unions to protest the rising cost of living, which they say is caused by economic mismanagement and corruption at the highest levels of government.

Leaders of the trade unions behind the strike warned on Monday afternoon that they have “lost control” of the movement.

“The unions cannot control certain movements organised by associations that we do not know about,” Boubacar Biro Barry, negotiator for the trade unions, told IRIN.

Several youth members of the Guinean Workers Union (USTG) and the National Confederation of Guinean Workers (CNTG) were arrested on Monday afternoon, and the union headquarters was sacked by an army unit led by President Conte’s son, Army Capt. Ousmane Conte, union staff told IRIN.

Union leaders, who were last week threatened by Conte in an acrimonious meeting that failed to end the strike, could not be reached for comment on Monday afternoon, but Barry said talks with the government are “on hold” until the army stops shooting protestors.

The unions have accused septuagenarian President Conte, a former army colonel who seized power in a coup in 1984, of being too ill to manage the country, and called on him to retire his government and hand over all his powers to a new prime minister.

Conte has refused to relinquish his powers, but has resigned the country’s current prime minister and offered some concessions to the strike-leaders.

On Friday, West African heads of state at a meeting of the regional ECOWAS grouping called for calm, and proposed sending a high-level delegation to Conakry to meet President Conte.

GUINEA: More trouble in Guinea could shake region

2007-11-01T09:25:00.000+01:00

CONAKRY, 23 January 2007 (IRIN)

Guinea's long borders and central position mean analysts view it as a regional lynchpin, saying serious domestic instability could easily spill over, ending tenuous progress towards the consolidation of peace in Liberia and Sierra Leone, which both experienced devastating civil wars in the 1990s.

Bram Posthumus, an independent West Africa analyst with 10 years of experience studying Guinea, said although he does not believe enough of a critical mass of demonstrators has been reached to seriously threaten the Guinean government, which is reinforced with a thus-far loyal 8,000 strong army, he does think Monday’s uprising marks a major change in the country’s mindset.

“What these strikes tell me is that people in Guinea have been tipped over the edge. The strike will continue,” Posthumus predicted. He said it “remains to be seen” how much Monday’s violent response from the government has affected people.

“People have been scared [of the government] for a long time, and for them to go out on the street like this is an enormous change in attitude,” he said.

West Africa expert Mike McGovern at Yale University attributes the country’s previous stability to its socialist past, which he said bequeathed a sense of “Guinea first” among the half-dozen ethnic groups there. He said decades of ruthless dictatorship in the 26 years after independence from France in 1958 drummed popular protest out of the national psyche.

However, McGovern also said in an interview on Friday that Guineans have reached a breaking point. “People seem to be recognising if thousands of people face hundreds or dozens of security forces, even if a few people die they have the capability to take power into their own hands,” McGovern said.

Posthumus said it is Guinea’s army, not the people, that will decide whether Conte stays in power or goes. “If they say they’re not prepared to keep supporting a corrupt government then that might be the tipping point,” Posthumus said. “The army is the only agency able to decide.”

Monday was the bloodiest day in over a decade in Guinea and was the first time people have risen up in such numbers against Conte. Rough estimates put 30,000 people on the streets in Conakry, and tens of thousands of others in towns across the country.
The day’s death toll meant at least 45 people have been killed during protests and riots in Conakry and provincial towns since the strike began, according to witnesses and hospital sources.

Apart from eruptions of violence in 1977 when market women briefly protested in Conakry, and in 1991 when some 1,000 people were killed in 36 hours of inter-communal violence during mayoral elections, Guinea has previously been spared the internal instability and conflict that have dogged its neighbours in the Mano River region: Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

On Tuesday, soldiers quickly quashed early morning protests in Conakry’s restive suburbs, after which light traffic circulated in the city amid heavy army patrols, IRIN correspondents said.

Shops, including those in the country’s vast informal sector, schools, and government offices remained shut as part of the “indefinite” nationwide strike, called by the country’s powerful unions to protest the rising cost of living, which union leaders blame on government mismanagement and corruption.

Ibrahima Fofana, leader of the Guinean Workers Union, who said he was arrested and beaten on Monday, told IRIN on Tuesday that the strike would go on, and unions were sticking to their demand that President Lansana Conte hand over all his powers to a newly appointed prime minister.

“The strike will continue until the final victory. Almost no solutions have been found to the problems we have posed,” he said. Union leaders entered a meeting with Conte at 6pm on Tuesday.

GUINEA: Strike suspended again

2007-11-01T09:23:00.001+01:00

CONAKRY, 29 January 2007 (IRIN)

Shops opened for business and Guineans returned to work on Monday after President Lansana Conte apparently agreed to weaken his grip on power and union leaders subsequently suspended an unprecedented 18-day nationwide strike.

After three days of talks with union leaders and civil society, Conte agreed on Saturday to sign over some of his authority to an as-yet unnamed “consensus” prime minister, who should be agreed on by union, business, religious and civil society leaders, union leaders said.

Conte also pledged to stop food exports to help shore up Guinea’s provisions, and to work to combat corruption, according to a “final declaration” signed by the unions and Conte. The president also said he would cut the cost of rice and petrol - promises he also made to end two previous strikes in February and June last year.

The naming of a new prime minister with the power to control the government was a key demand of the unions. They blame Guinea’s downward spiral on Conte’s failing health and inability to manage affairs of state.

The new prime minister must be in high standing and “not have been implicated in the embezzlement which has brought the country to chaos,” Ibrahima Fofana, secretary general of the Guinean Workers Union (USTG) said. Fofana said the strike was a “success” because it showed that Guineans are a “social force capable of changing the regime”.

The unions’ populist platform has won backing from far beyond their traditional bases. By speaking about the issues affecting ordinary Guineans, the majority of whom live in poverty despite Guinea's vast natural wealth, the unions won far more support than the traditional political opposition.

Guinea’s Health Ministry said at least 59 people were killed during the strike, with more than half shot by security forces during large protest marches in various parts of the country on 22 January.

Regional political analysts attached some significance to the scale of the anti-Conte demonstrations, saying an often brutal post-independence history had left most Guineans unwilling to participate in mass protests. However, with crowds never larger than 30,000 in Conakry, a city of over six million people, and the continued loyalty of the military, Conte's regime was never seen as being seriously threatened.

GUINEA: Emergency funds needed as more violence looms

2007-11-01T09:21:00.001+01:00

CONAKRY, 7 February 2007 (IRIN)

Union leaders in Guinea are threatening to call another nationwide strike starting next Monday, but emergency relief agencies say the country is ill-prepared for a round of violence similar to one last month and urgently needs $4m in emergency assistance.

“Guinea is heading for another strike because nothing has been done by President [Lansana] Conte toward naming a new prime minister,” Ibrahima Fofana, head of the Guinean Workers Union (USTG), told IRIN on Tuesday. “Our patience has limits.”

He said Monday was Conte’s deadline.

Unions suspended their last 18-day national strike on 29 January after Conte, an aging autocrat, agreed to devolve some of his powers to a new independent prime minister.

If a new strike is called, youths interviewed by IRIN in Conakry’s suburbs said they would be ready to take on security forces as they did during the January strike. That violence left at least 51 people dead and 1,400 injured across the country, according to the Guinean National Health Crisis Committee.

Alpha Ousmane Diakite, a mechanic in the Hamdallaye district of Conakry, said on Tuesday that the security forces “do not scare any young Guinean”.

“We have decided to protest next Monday. If Conte wants to stay in power, he has five days to name a new prime minister,” he said.

Emergency needs

The United Nation’s humanitarian coordination agency (OCHA) in Conakry told IRIN it appealed within the “rapid response” window of the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) on Tuesday for US$2.7 million, to fund stockpiles of blood, trauma kits, medical supplies, communications equipment, and the Humanitarian Air Service (HAS).

OCHA said an additional $2 million needs to be committed by other donors for the additional supplies. The money would also go towards providing relief for over 600 of the people wounded in last month’s clashes, including securing legal services for some of the people allegedly shot by state security services.

Georg Cunz, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Guinea, said the country’s national health services are “in an appalling situation”, and the country’s needs are “enormous” if it is to cope just with the fallout from last month’s violence. He warned about the impact of more fighting.

“Everything depends on how the situation evolves next week,” Cunz said on Wednesday. “We have a stock of material for war wounded which would allow for the hospitalisation and treatment of several hundred people, but not much more.”

Other agencies contributed to emergency relief during and after last month’s violence. They included the World Health Organisation, the UN children’s agency, the World Food Programme, and the nongovernmental organisations Terre des Hommes and Mèdecins Sans Frontiéres.

Analysts have warned that persistent violence in Guinea could easily spill over into its neighbours Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone, threatening relative stability there.

However, OCHA said last week that its missions to the Guinean border with Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire had found no population movements over the border during the last strike.

GUINEA: New clashes follow PM appointment

2007-11-01T09:19:00.001+01:00

CONAKRY, 11 February 2007 (IRIN)

Mobs burned police stations, looted warehouses and attacked the homes of government ministers in Guinea on Saturday to protest President Lansana Conte’s choice of prime minister.

At least four people were confirmed dead and scores injured during riots in the capital, Conakry, and several other towns around the country.

The violence is the latest sign of deepening discontent over the rule of autocratic President Lansana Conte, who has ruled the resource-rich but revenue-poor country for the past 23 years.

Conte, who refused to step down in the face of a crippling 18-day strike last month, announced late on Friday that he would appoint his chief of staff, Eugene Camara, as premier.

Demonstrators say Camara is too close an ally to the president and is not the independent candidate Conte promised when he negotiated an end to last month’s strike. Security forces shot at least 59 people dead during those protests.

Some of the worst violence on Saturday happened when stone-throwing rioters attacked a convoy they believed to be carrying Conte. His presidential guard fired into the crowd, killing three and wounding at least 20 others, according to an IRIN correspondent who witnessed the shooting.

Residents in Conakry's sprawling suburbs also reported extensive looting of shops and rice warehouses. Mobs of stone-throwing youths smashed windows, threw garbage into the streets and set up roadblocks with burning tyres before clashing with armed police.

Protesters also looted private residences belonging to Guinean government ministers in Conakry and Segre in the remote northeast. A mansion in Conakry that belongs to Guinea-Bissau's President Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira, a close ally of President Conte, was also looted, IRIN correspondents reported.

Rioters also burned houses and offices belonging to local officials in Nzerekore, 1,000km southeast of Conakry, and in Labe in the centre of the country.

Two police stations and two petrol stations in Conakry were burned during Saturday's violence.

Clashes between civilians and police were also reported in Kankan, 500km
east of Conakry, and unconfirmed reports said at least one Guinean soldier was burned alive. Protesters also attacked the city jail and released prisoners.

Clashes were also reported by residents in Kissidougou in the Forest Region, Faranah, 300km east of Conakry, and Kindia, 100km north.

On Friday, before Conte's announcement, clashes between anti-government protestors and police were also reported in Koyah in the west and Duinguiraye, 400km north of Conakry.

On Sunday a tense calm had returned to the capital but new demonstrations were reported in Kankan.

Union leader Ibrahima Fofana of the Guinean Workers Union (CSTG), one of the unions behind last month's strike, told IRIN the union was calling for a new strike starting on Monday, although the weekend's violence had already ground most of the country to a halt as people sheltered at home from the violence.

But Bama Maddou, spokesman for a coalition of 14 opposition political parties, said it is too late to talk about a strike.

"This is not a strike," he said. "This is an insurrection against Conte. The people are demanding his resignation."

Communications infrastructure is poor in Guinea and hospitals are so under-stocked and expensive that most people prefer to treat wounded and dead at home.

The United Nations last week appealed for US$4.7 million in emergency aid to stock hospitals with blood, trauma kits and oxygen to prepare for what diplomats and aid workers in Conakry expect to be an unpredictable and unstable period in Guinea.

GUINEA: Strike resumes, violence steps up

2007-11-01T09:18:00.001+01:00

CONAKRY, 12 February 2007 (IRIN)

Mobs looted guns from police stations in Conakry over the weekend and began blocking roads and battling riot police and soldiers in various suburbs around the capital Conakry. The groups set up dozens more roadblocks on Monday and continued running battles with security forces.

Groups have also been seen attacking cars and passers-by, IRIN correspondents in Conakry said. Shops are being looted and residents in various suburbs said their houses were being broken into.

The latest fighting comes on the first day of a resumed general strike, after President Lansana Conte failed to meet demands to appoint a prime minister who did not come from his inner circle. The previous strike was suspended on 29 January after at least 59 people were shot dead in 18 days of anti-government protests in towns and cities throughout the country.

On Monday the headquarters of Liberte FM, one of two independent radio stations in the country, was ransacked by soldiers wearing red berets which identify them as members of the presidential guard. The station went off the air by mid-morning.

Then, around midday, shots were heard from inside the main army barracks in Conakry. Soldiers were demanding salary payments and promotions, senior army officials told IRIN. The matter was quickly settled after President Lansana Conte issued an edict promoting every soldier in the country by one grade.

In riots over the weekend, the houses of at least two government ministers were looted, as were the offices and houses of local officials in the regional capitals of Nzerekore in the southeast and Labe in the country’s centre. In the regional capital of Kankan, in the east, which saw some of the largest demonstrations and worst violence outside Conakry in January, protestors fought police on Saturday and broke open the city jail.

The violence and lawlessness is unprecedented in Guinea’s recent history. Regional analysts had considered the country to be politically stable with a security force that was so repressive that Guineans would rarely make public protests.

However, union leaders started calling strikes around a year ago to protest skyrocketing inflation and plummeting standards of living.

GUINEA: Martial law hindering help for wounded

2007-11-01T09:16:00.000+01:00

CONAKRY, 13 February 2007 (IRIN)

Guinean President Lansana Conte imposed martial law in Guinea on Monday effectively blocking the few emergency agencies that were working to treat people wounded during one of the worst days of violence.

The Guinean Red Cross, which had been running the only ambulance service in the country during violent protests in January and in the last three days, is now grounded by the curfew, Georg Cunz, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Guinea said on Tuesday.

“We are not able to operate today,” said Cunz. “We are in negotiations with the army to try and get freedom of movement, but they have not yet agreed. We are all at home trying to find out what’s happening,” he said.

Cunz said 15 ICRC and Guinea Red Cross ambulances worked throughout the day in Conakry on Monday transporting hundreds of wounded to the city’s dilapidated hospitals.

The Guinea Red Cross also operates in all 33 of Guinea’s provinces.

Following the widespread looting and fighting on Monday, Conte made an address on national radio on Monday evening, saying those protestors calling for his resignation were, “sending Guinea into civil war”.

He said the army would impose a strict curfew and that civilians would only be allowed to leave their houses between 4pm and 8pm. The military would also take control of all internal security, which is normally under the control of the police and gendarmerie, Conte said.

On Tuesday most of the streets in the capital Conakry and other towns were empty except for a heavy military presence. However in the morning there were some reports of clashes between youths and soldiers in some suburbs of Conakry, and later in the day in the provincial capital Labe in the centre of the country.

During the fighting on Monday, 245 wounded people arrived at Donka Hospital in Conakry, staff told IRIN. Media reports estimate that at least 20 people had been killed during the day.

Marie Jeanne Hautbois, head of the NGO Terres des Hommes, which is working to support Guinean staff at Donka, said conditions at the hospital are difficult but functional.

“The main problem is that most staff live in the suburbs and it’s very difficult for them to come to work now,” Hautbois said.

“The situation is difficult but the medical teams gained a lot of experience during last month’s violence and have made preparations to organise themselves,” Hautbois added.

However conditions in smaller hospitals in Conakry and elsewhere in the country could be worse, she said.

Guinea’s hospitals are so run down that Guineans usually rely on their families to bring them food and to shop for drugs and even the surgical equipment doctors need to treat them. Family members are often called on to donate blood for their relatives.

Many of the wounded at Donka came unaccompanied and are being treated with medical kits and supplies relief organizations provided during and after January’s violence, Hautbois said.

Also on Tuesday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that 550 metric tonnes of food worth more than US $350,000 was looted on Saturday and Monday from WFP warehouses in Labe and Kankan, and the WFP’s representative in Kankan had been evacuated to Mali after stone-throwing youths attacked the WFP compound.

The agency had suspended its operations in Guinea the week earlier, a WFP statement said.

The US Embassy flew a plane with 25 non-essential embassy staff and expatriates from Conakry to Dakar on Tuesday, but in a public alert to its citizens resident in Guinea said it was not conducting an evacuation.

GUINEA: Life means terror in army-run Conakry

2007-11-01T09:15:00.001+01:00

CONAKRY, 16 February 2007 (IRIN) - “The boss made reference to President Lansana Conte and gave us the order to shoot anyone provocative, so whoever provokes me, I will shoot him without any hesitation,” said a Kalashnikov-toting soldier in the main street outside the Donka hospital in central Conakry on Thursday, who refused to give his name.

The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday security forces have killed at least 22 people using this justification since last weekend.

Of those, HRW said at least one was killed since President Conte imposed 10 days of martial law on Monday night, although news reports have recorded nine people killed around the country since then.

In addition to the HRW count, IRIN has confirmed that a seven year-old girl, Aicha Diallo, was shot and killed during random shooting by uniformed soldiers in the Taouyah suburb of Conakry on Thursday. CLICK to read Aicha Diallo’s story

Guineans say uniformed soldiers have also been looting, raping and beating people at random in most of the sprawling city’s suburbs.

Violence erupted in Conakry and in towns across Guinea on Saturday after President Conte announced on Friday evening he would appoint a man seen as his close ally to the prime minister post, a position populist unions now leading calls for his resignation say he promised to an independent candidate.

Most areas of Conakry are calm since the army took over, although demonstrations have been reported in the towns Banankoro in the south and Labe in the centre of the country.

Provocations

Guineans struggling to live in Conakry, the rundown capital, where they are only allowed out of their houses between noon and 6pm, say ‘provocations’ can include staring, wearing a desirable pair of shoes, or simply being in the wrong place when the jeeps of soldiers careering around the city start shooting their guns in the air.

Photo: Pierre Holtz/IRIN
Conakry is a sprawling maze of tin shacks and dirt roads

Alseny Bah, 21, was leaving his house in the maze of alleyways in the Petit Lac areaof Taouyah district in the north of Conakry on Thursday, looking for an open kiosk to buy food.

"When I left the house, a soldier saw me straight away. I ran away but he trapped me in a corner and beat me with his fists. When I fell down he went through my pockets,” Bah said on Thursday.

Bah lost his cell phone, and the equivalent of US $8 in cash. The soldier even took his worn Nike running shoes.

Shot hiding in the closet

In the Hafea district in the east of the city, Aminata, 30, didn’t even leave her house but still got caught up in the violence, according to her sister, who gave her name as Djenadob.

“We heard trucks pulling up outside and shouting, then shooting started,” Djenadob said. The girls hid inside their wardrobe, but when the shooting stopped Aminata was slumped, bleeding.

Neighbours said later the soldiers were shooting into the air as a warning to people not to come outside. One of the bullets pierced the flimsy tin walls of the sisters’ shack and clipped Aminata.

The family borrowed a neighbour’s car and risked the long drive to the city’s only functioning hospital. Aminata’s condition later was unclear.

Stoned, raped

At the Donka hospital, the mother of a young boy who was hit in the head with a rock thrown by soldiers on Wednesday says he has not eaten or spoken since the attack.

“The soldier was going to shoot him but his colleague stopped him, so he threw a rock instead and it cracked his head,” she said.

In its statement on Friday, HRW said at least three women living in Conakry’s suburbs have been raped by uniformed personnel, including soldiers and presidential guardsmen.

“At least one victim was reportedly gang-raped,” the statement said.

“People in the suburbs are terrified because they say the soldiers are going to come in and ‘kill and rape us and send red berets into our homes’,” said HRW researcher Dustin Sharp who was in Conakry until Thursday.

Culture of impunity

Guineans say they are far more afraid of the army than the regular police or gendarmes.

“It’s the army that kills,” said a 33-year-old journalist, who did not want to be named. “We have much more reason to fear them than the police or gendarmes.”

HRW has previously accused the Guinean security services of torture and murder and said there is a “culture of impunity” compounded by a weak judicial system.

The army chief-of-staff, Gen Kerfalla Camara, told journalists in Conakry on Friday that a commission has been set up to look into allegations of army abuse.

But Sharp said no Guinean security personnel have ever been prosecuted for serious crimes, including the shooting of 13 unarmed students during a strike in June last year.

Despite the unrest, Sharp said many people he met in Conakry still wanted to demand Conte’s resignation when martial law is lifted.

“It’s an open question to what extent the resistance has been broken,” Sharp said.

Civil society leaders are due to sit down with the military on Saturday to start negotiations to end the crisis.

GUINEA- Aboubacar Diallo “I buried my seven-year-old niece this morning”

2007-11-01T09:13:00.000+01:00

February 2007 (IRIN) CONAKRY,

Aboubacar Diallo says his seven-year-old niece, Aicha, was shot and killed by uniformed soldiers shooting randomly in the Taouyah suburb of Conakry on Thursday night. The girl made it to hospital, but died because blood and medicines were not available. She was buried without a ceremony on Friday morning.

Conakry and other towns have been under martial law since President Lansana Conte called in the army on Monday to end days of rioting and looting by youths demanding his resignation. Residents say the army is spreading terror by robbing and raping residents in the suburbs, and shooting in the air and at people.

“Last night after the start of the curfew at 8pm soldiers came into the district and started shooting into the air to warn people not to come out. They are doing that in all the areas where there was rioting before, shooting into the air to announce the start of the curfew.”

“One of the bullets came through the wall and hit Aicha, who was lying in her bed. The bullet hit her in the head.”

“She was unconscious and haemorrhaging blood and we knew she had to go to hospital.”

“When the shooting stopped, her father took her in his arms and went out into the street. It was deserted. He walked about half a kilometre to the main road and waited a long time until a private car with two soldiers passed and took them to the Donka hospital.”

“By the time they got to the hospital she was almost dead. The doctors there tried to help but they had no blood and no medicines. The bleeding could not be stopped and she passed away not long after they got there.”

“Today her father is so devastated he can’t speak. We can’t stop her mother crying. She is crying and crying.”

“God gave us Aicha and it’s him who took her back.”

“She was buried this morning at 11 am in the cemetery close to her home. Hardly anyone came because of the curfew. It was done very fast, without any honour.”

GUINEA: Martial law relaxed but strike continuing

2007-11-01T09:12:00.001+01:00

CONAKRY, 20 February 2007 (IRIN) - Life is slowly returning to relative normalcy in Guinea now that the government has eased a curfew imposed after nationwide unrest, but a general strike is ongoing.

President Lansana Conte called the curfew on 12 February to curb widespread looting and rioting, which had swept the capital, Conakry, and towns across the country during protests calling for his resignation.

Originally in force for 20 hours every day, authorities cut the curfew to six hours at the end of last week, and on Monday reduced it further to keep Guineans off the streets between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

On Tuesday, pedestrians ventured onto the main roads of Conakry, but taxis were still a rare sight. Long cues formed at service stations in Conakry. Many of them were looted during the unrest on 12 February.

In the first days of martial law, Conakry was deserted as Guineans cowered at home from truckloads of soldiers careering around the city, shooting in the air, and according to human rights watchdogs and many Guineans, looting, raping and beating people they found outside.

Banks, shops and government offices were still closed on Tuesday, respecting a strike order called by Guinea’s powerful unions last Monday to protest President Conte’s choice of prime minister, who they say is not independent.

But at the market of Yenguema in the neighbourhood Kaloum some stalls opened again.

“We are very happy about the relaxation of the curfew,” said Macire Fofana, a market trader.

Hawa Bangoura, shopping for food at the market, said she was worried that the army would start attacking people again.

“I am certain that some people are dying of hunger in their homes,” she said.

“We will perhaps go out to because of the need for food, and the army will perhaps start using their guns to kill us,” she said, adding that she only left her house once all the food was gone.

At least 113 people were killed in demonstrations in Guinea in recent weeks, according to government and aid agency officials in Conakry.

Guinea’s union leaders and other members of civil society, including religious representatives and the political opposition, have been in talks with government officials since Saturday aimed at ending the crisis.

The unions have previously said they will not call off the strike until President Conte resigns, and had said they would not enter into negotiations until martial law was revoked.

West African leaders have appointed former Nigerian president Ibrahim Babangida as its special envoy to Guinea.

Babangida met with Conte on Saturday and said on Tuesday in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, that he will go back “soon” to meet with Conte again.

According to Babanguida, his mission to Guinea followed concerns expressed by African heads of state about the regional implications of Guinea’s unrest. "We must be able to come and have a look at the situation so that we don't allow it to deteriorate,” he said.

GUINEA: Consensus prime minister’s appointment ends strike

2007-11-01T09:10:00.000+01:00

CONAKRY, 27 February 2007 (IRIN)

Guinea’s union leaders on Tuesday once again suspended a nationwide strike after President Lansana Conte agreed to appoint a new prime minister approved by civil society.

Tuesday’s suspension follows two months of unprecedented anti-Conte protests in the capital, Conakry, and towns and cities throughout the country that left over 100 people dead and hundreds more injured, raising fears that the country could follow its neighbours Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire and slip into civil war.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in January and early February. They first demanded that Conte relinquish some of his powers to an independent prime minister and then called for his resignation after he appointed a close ally instead.

The new appointee, chosen from a list of four candidates proposed by civil society leaders in Guinea, is Lansana Kouyate, a former Guinean ambassador to the United Nations in New York. Until 2002 he was executive secretary of the West African regional body ECOWAS.

“I welcome this appointment favourably,” Kouyate told IRIN by telephone from Côte d’Ivoire on Tuesday morning before leaving for Conakry. “It is a heavy burden that we will carry together to lift Guinea out of the situation it currently finds itself in.”

Former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, was removed by presidential decree in April last year. The premier’s post was vacant until Eugene Camara, Conte’s personal chief of staff, was briefly appointed in late January.

Diallo’s predecessor, Francois Fall, resigned while visiting France where he sought exile, complaining of corruption in the government and saying that his position as prime minister was repeatedly compromised by President Conte.

According to civil society leaders, Kouyate is expected to serve with more independence and autonomy than other prime ministers.

After the unions suspended the strike most shops, restaurants and government offices were open for business in Conakry on Tuesday, with long lines forming outside banks.

Guinea’s only two independent radio stations remained off the air on Tuesday after being closed down by the army during martial law last week.

Kouyate’s appointment followed several meetings between Conte and senior ECOWAS envoys, and with the UN Secretary-General’s special representative for West Africa.

ECOWAS announced on Tuesday that it would set up a permanent liaison office in Conakry and appoint an official to “accompany Guineans in the implementation of reform”.

"I am very pleased that President Conte kept his word to appoint a prime minister from the list provided by the Unions," said Mohamed Ibn Chambas, current ECOWAS executive secretary.

"Kouyate is a diplomat of good reputation and he deserves to be given a chance to help Guineans by undertaking political reforms with the support of the international community," said Chambas, speaking in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou.

GUINEA: Students demonstrate in interior

2007-11-01T09:09:00.001+01:00

CONAKRY, 27 March 2007 (IRIN)

Tensions continue to run high in Guinea with some 3,000 students taking to the streets on Monday in the town of Labe, 600 km north east of the capital Conakry, which saw violent clashes between protesters and police during several weeks of anti-government riots earlier this year.

“We are the forgotten people of the republic,” said Amamdou Toure, a protesting student from the University of Labe. “This place does not have what it needs to make it a normal university.”

The demonstrations mostly took place around the university where students have been on strike since 22 March, according to university authorities and students contacted by telephone.

The students said they were protesting the shoddy state of their campus and the lack of investment in the education system. Guinea’s universities, like most public institutions in Guinea have suffered from years of neglect. With a lack of teaching staff, class sizes are sometimes in the hundreds.

Motivation is low as many students say they believe it is under the table cash not hard work or intellect that wins them high marks. And once students have completed their education, few are likely to find meaningful work afterwards.

Observers say it is chronic problems such as these which have pushed many people to participate in unprecedented anti-government demonstrations over the last year.

GUINEA: Government tasked to address impunity

2007-11-01T09:07:00.000+01:00

CONAKRY, 24 April 2007 (IRIN)

An international human rights group has called on the government of Guinea to take concrete measures to hold security forces accountable for killings, beatings and other abuses linked to strike-related protests in January and February.

In its report, “Dying for Change: Brutality and Repression by Guinean Security Forces in Response to a Nationwide Strike”, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday documented how Guinean security forces “brutally repressed” demonstrations across the country.

At least 129 people died in the violence and more than 1,700 were wounded, according to the report, which is based on interviews with 115 victims and witnesses. They said security forces fired directly into crowds of unarmed demonstrators.

“Scores of Guineans, many of them mere bystanders to the demonstrations, were severely beaten and robbed at gunpoint by security forces, often in their own homes,” the report said.

For the first time in Guinea’s post-independence history tens of thousands of people took to the streets to demand better governance in January and February. At one point they called for longtime ruler Lansana Conte to step down and only relented after labour leaders negotiated an end to the standoff that led to the installation of a new prime minister, Lansana Kouyate. He was chosen by the president from four candidates approved by the unions.

Although calm has returned to Guinea, those who were caught up in the violence continue to relive the terror.

“At night, around 8 p.m., a soldier going after a young man passed by me. He then threatened to kill me before convincing me that he wouldn’t hurt me if I accepted to ‘understand’ him,” a young woman identified as M.B. told IRIN recently. “He forced me for his dirty need without a condom. I struggled in vain.”

HRW said the attacks on demonstrators appeared to be a well-organised operation.

“Guinean security forces beat, robbed, threatened and arbitrarily arrested trade union and other civil society leaders, as well as journalists” the report said. “Scores of other Guineans, including children, were killed or wounded by undisciplined and reckless fire.”

CLICK to read an IRIN interview with the family of a child killed by security forces

The government had vowed to investigate the abuses and created a national commission of inquiry including representatives from the Ministry of Justice, civil society, trade unions and the Ministry of Defense. But Guinea’s bar association and the country’s main human rights group, the Guinean Organisation for the Defense of Human Rights (OGDH), declined to participate in any investigative body established by the government.

“The presumed authors of these crimes are not well placed to carry out the investigation of these acts,” said Thierno Madjiou Sow, OGDH president.

Conte agreed to sweeping pay rises for the military in March following a mass promotion in February, which observers said was tantamount to rewarding bad behaviour. In addition, each soldier receives a sack of rice each month for a quarter of the price that other Guineans pay.

Under the new prime minister, a new minister of justice created a panel including judges and lawyers appointed by the bar association to look at the possibility of drafting a statute to create an independent judicial mechanism to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the abuses in January and February.

“At some point they will have to present [the statute] to the government and National Assembly to be voted on,” said HRW Guinea researcher Dustin Sharp. “But it seems like at least initially the new team... is more sincere in its desire to put in place a commission that can actually do its job.”

Whether the action will go further than the National Assembly remains to be seen, analysts said. The legislature is dominated by Conte’s ruling Unity and Progress Party.

“While there are some really good minded people… there are a lot of countervailing forces in Guinea,” Sharp said. “It is certain the violence cannot be attributed to a bunch of bad apples in the lower ranks of security forces. It’s pretty clear that things went higher than that in the government.”

“Things are still very tenuous and the level of anger and the possibility of an explosion remains very real,” Sharp said.

GUINEA: High-level meeting to end military protest

2007-11-01T09:05:00.001+01:00

CONAKRY, 4 May 2007 (IRIN)

Senior military officers and government officials in Guinea were meeting on Friday to end a two-day protest by soldiers in Conakry and three other major towns demanding pay rises and payment of salary arrears.

The soldiers fired their guns into the air from their barracks in the capital, Conakry, and the western town of Kindia, the central town of Labe and the southeastern town of Gueckedou near the border with Liberia, reports said.

Sources at Donka Hospital in Conakry said about nine people had been treated for gunshot wounds sustained from stray bullets.

“The Guinean security forces have a history of acting with utter disregard for Guinea’s citizens,” said Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch. “Ending impunity and making the armed forces accountable for their behaviour is a key test for the new government.”

A new government, led by consensus Prime Minister Lansana Kouyate, was established following massive strike-led protests in January and February. The unrest left at least 129 people dead after the military intervened to quash the demonstrations.

Efforts are underway to establish an independent commission to investigate abuses allegedly committed by the military during the protests. At around that time, soldiers had received promotions and pay hikes.

Soldiers angry over President Lansana Conte’s rejection of demands for pay rises staged a two-day violent mutiny in Conakry in 1996. They seized the country’s international airport, bombed the presidential palace and engaged in widespread looting. Dozens of people were killed. The mutiny ended after Conte promised to increase the soldiers' salaries.

Conte, an ailing former general, seized power in 1984 and has been heavily relying on the military’s support through out his 23-year rule.

Sources close to the soldiers protesting on Wednesday and Thursday say the mostly low-ranking troops want the government to give them 300-billion Guinean francs [US$82 million] Conte allegedly promised them to end the 1996 mutiny.

GUINEA: Military warns of more protests if demands not met

2007-11-01T09:01:00.001+01:00

CONAKRY, 17 August 2007 (IRIN)

Guinean soldiers warn they could stage fresh protests within weeks if the government fails to meet demands that were at the centre of military-led riots in May that left two people dead and several injured.

Soldiers say they are giving the government until 8 September to pay long-overdue salaries. “After that deadline, we’ll make ourselves heard as we did in May,” said one sergeant major who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid problems with superiors. Many soldiers IRIN spoke to echoed this position.

Demanding back salary and the dismissal of top military officials, soldiers rioted in the capital, Conakry, and in two other towns, shooting into the air and strafing a residential area with machine guns, killing at least two people.

The bulk of the soldiers’ demands have yet to be met, military sources told IRIN. “What we want is to obtain, at the end of this month, what is our due, as promised by the government under [President] Lansana Conte.”

He said soldiers will refuse their salary for this month. “We have decided not to touch our money at the end of this month to protest the failure to meet the commitments made by our leaders.”

The military has long demanded back salaries, the reintegration of soldiers sacked after a rebellion in 1996 and promotions. Troops want the government to give them 300 billion CFA francs (US$77 million) Conte allegedly promised them to end the 1996 mutiny.

After the uprisings this year Conte dismissed his defence minister and other top officials but the government will be hard pressed to meet the salary demands. “The Guinean government does not have the means to deal with these salary arrears – the military’s principal demand,” Himourana Soumah of the Ministry of Economy, Finances and Planning, told IRIN.

Other government officials and spokespeople contacted by IRIN declined to comment on the situation.

Observers say the government cannot keep deferring the problem of the military. “The artificial promises from government will only hold for so long,” said Kissy Agyeman, sub-Saharan Africa analyst with the London-based research group Global Insight.

“Without the materialisation of concrete financial solutions, the political machinery, already teetering on the brink, could be pushed over the edge as the military’s loyalty is reaching its limit.”

For now it is citizens who suffer the military’s discontent, a lawyer in the capital, Conakry, told IRIN. “The military makes the population pay, instead of those responsible,” said Boubakar Sow, president of the bar association. He said even in relatively calm times it is common to hear of military robbing citizens, as in a case two weeks ago when some soldiers commandeered a truck full of food in Boke – about 300km from the capital, Conakry – and made off with the contents.

“The military can’t get at those responsible. All they can do is kill and pillage the citizens.”

GUINEA: Cholera epidemic multiplying despite intense efforts

2007-11-01T08:59:00.000+01:00

CONAKRY, 20 August 2007 (IRIN)

Almost 1,800 people have been affected by a cholera outbreak in Guinea which has caused 67 deaths, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Conakry.

In the same period last year, just 30 cases of cholera were reported, resulting in zero deaths, according to OCHA.

“The epidemic is quite serious this year, but the government and humanitarian partners are doing everything they can to treat cases and prevent the spread of the disease in Guinea,” Madeleine Maka Kaba, OCHA spokesperson told IRIN.

The seafront capital Conakry where 2 million people live, many of them packed close together in squalid slums without running water or sanitation, is being hit hardest. 370 of the cases and 18 deaths have been recorded there.

Cholera is caused by a bacteria contracted by eating food or drinking water contaminated by the faeces of an infected person. The disease is most common in countries facing inadequate sanitation, overcrowding and lack of access to clean water. It is preventable with a course of vaccines, and infected people can be treated but if left uncared for will die.

The epidemic is also hitting hard in other towns and cities around the country, many of which have had neither piped water, sanitation or electricity for several years.

In Kindia, 135km east from Conakry, 46 cases and six deaths have been reported since Saturday when a woman infected with the disease travelled there from Conakry, according to the Ministry of Health.

Agencies working to prevent the spread of cholera in Guinea include the Guinean Ministry of Health, OCHA, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Medecins sans Frontieres, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and local organisations.

UNICEF is currently working with the local Conakry government, ICRC and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Conakry to distribute 17,000 bottles of ‘Sur Eau,’ a water treatment product for use in individual households, to sections of the city most affected by the outbreak. UNICEF has made the doxycycline antibiotic available to the Ministry of Health as well as one tonne of disinfectant.

The Guinean government has also spearheaded a communication campaign in partnership with UNICEF and the Red Cross, spreading messages via national and rural community radio concerning the prevention and treatment of cholera.

At least 15 public and private radio stations are carrying messages in local languages urging the population to take extra care during the cholera season.

“This campaign is carried every year during the cholera season, however this year efforts are more intense and focused,” OCHA’s Kaba told IRIN.

GUINEA: Cholera cases still rising

2007-11-01T08:58:00.001+01:00

DAKAR, 28 August 2007 (IRIN) -

At least 800 more people have been infected with cholera over the last week, bringing the total number of reported cases to 2,500 since January out of which 90 people have died, according to the Guinean Ministry of Health.

“The number of people infected by the disease in Conakry has considerably increased since July,” said Sergio Martin Esteso, programme head for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Guinea, in a statement. “Of the 1,260 patients treated in the three centres where MSF works, more than 1,000 have been in the past three weeks.”

“Once again, health facilities weren’t well enough prepared to cope with this emergency,” Esteso said.

The disease has spread rapidly despite sensitization efforts including a national radio campaign organised by the government, the Guinean Red Cross and UNICEF, emphasizing the importance of clean water and proper hygiene.

According to MSF, many Guineans cannot afford to purchase clean drinking water, limiting the impact of any prevention messages, and efforts to battle the disease are further hampered by a lack of trained medical staff at treatment centres, MSF said.

Since the arrival of rains in late May, cholera cases recorded by the Guinean Ministry of Health have multiplied exponentially with each passing week. From 13 to 19 August, the Ministry recorded 723 cases.

The capital city Conakry has borne the brunt of the outbreak, accounting for 1,260 of the 2,496 total cases recorded to date.

Cholera is caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae and typically contracted by eating food or drinking water contaminated by the faeces of an infected person. Outbreaks occur frequently in countries with inadequate access to clean water, lack of proper sanitation, and overcrowding.

GUINEA: ‘Open house’ at army base aims to ease military, civilian relations

2007-11-01T08:56:00.000+01:00

DAKAR, 29 August 2007 (IRIN) -

In Guinea a civil-military dialogue group is organising an ‘open house’ at the country’s main military base, inviting citizens to meet with military officials to help “ease relations” between the two sectors which in recent months have met in the streets in deadly clashes.

“Our country sorely needs this kind of exchange,” said Mohamed Kouyate, programme coordinator with Guinea’s Centre for International Trade and Development (CECIDE), which is helping organise the 6 September open house at the Alpha Yaya Diallo military base in the capital, Conakry. “The main aim is to ease relations between [defence and security forces and civilians], because a country’s development cannot happen without a solid understanding among the country’s various actors.”

Guinea – where citizens’ patience is running thin over promised political and socioeconomic reforms – is still reeling from demonstrations in June 2006 and early this year when security and defence forces killed nearly 150 unarmed protesters and injured hundreds more.

“That was a bad thing for our country. But we have to come back to an understanding," said Colonel Bissi Michel, who has taken part in ongoing meetings aimed at improving relations between the military and civilians. "Without understanding between us, the military cannot carry out its work.”

He added, “A soldier is first a civilian after all.”

At the open house members of the public will be able to pose questions to security forces, while military officials are scheduled to explain their mission and their constraints to the people, CECIDE’s Kouyate told IRIN. “Civilians and the military don’t understand each other.”

Mixed views

Citizens contacted by IRIN had mixed views of an effort to smooth relations between the two, one professor saying any such move would be but a "game" because the Guinean military has always and will always be "repressive."
...We civilians could express what we have in our hearts in an effort to erase the hate...

But Hadja Mariama Kesso Diallo, a homemaker in the Koloma neighbourhood of Conakry, said after the "savage killings" of earlier this year, dialogue between security forces and civilans is the right thing to do. "We civilians could express what we have in our hearts in an effort to erase the hate. I think that would ease tensions and the reconciliation we seek could materialise."

Mohamed Sanoussy Diaoune, a university student in Conakry, agreed that any effort to improve relations is welcome. "In January and February, the Guinean army failed in its role which is in part...to protect citizens. Instead it massacred innocent people. So civilian-military consultation [would be] very beneficial."

The idea for the open house stems from a civilian-military committee, which includes representatives of the military, police, political parties, unions, non-governmental organisations, the media, religious groups and women’s groups. The committee, backed in part by the US Agency for International Development, holds regular meetings and works to educate both sides about their rights and responsibilities, according to Bakary Fofana of CECIDE.

Repeated clashes

The committee was set up in June 2006 following clashes between riot police and students in which at least 11 youths were shot dead. The group's aim was in part to create a dialogue between security forces and civilians to avoid such clashes.

But less than a year later, in January and February 2007, army and presidential guard troops fired on civilians again during unprecedented nationwide strikes in which demonstrators called for President Lansana Conte to step down. Among the 137 people killed were several children. Nearly 2,000 people were reportedly wounded. And a few months later more citizens were killed and injured when soldiers rioted over back pay and other grievances.

The incidents are supposed to be under investigation by a government commission, but Guineans are still waiting for results. The parliament in May unanimously passed a law creating an investigative commission but President Conte has yet to promulgate the law and the probe has yet to get off the ground, observers say.

While the government apparently has not prosecuted security forces over human rights violations, neither has it answered the military’s longstanding demands. The open house is scheduled for the same week some soldiers have said they would “make themselves heard” as they did earlier this year if the government did not pay up.

GUINEA: Slight boost in water, electricity services but much to be done

2007-11-01T08:52:00.000+01:00

CONAKRY, 24 October 2007 (IRIN) - In one of the poorest and most volatile neighbourhoods of Conakry new solar-panelled street lights line a boulevard for nearly three kilometres, the shiny lampposts standing out amid crumbling cinder block buildings and rutted dirt roads.

“That came with ‘le changement’,” one Guinean said, using one of the most often-heard phrases here these days – referring to the change of government that took place in March after weeks of unprecedented citizen demonstrations for better living conditions and the ouster of the president of 23 years, Lansana Conte.

In a compromise Conte named a consensus prime minister, Lansana Kouyate, who came in promising Guineans what most have been deprived of for decades – access to the most basic of services like electricity, clean water and sanitation.

Some seven months later precise data about how many have access to water and electricity is scarce. Sources with international organisations told IRIN they have only anecdotal information to date.

A source with the European Union delegation in Guinea said only: “As far as basic services, namely water and electricity, some improvements have taken place in the last weeks allowing to light some areas of Conakry, but a lot of work is left to do.”

But Guineans and international observers alike say they have seen marked improvement.

In the Cameroun neighbourhood of the Guinean capital, for the past two months running water has been more frequent in some households, residents told IRIN. “Since about two months ago there has been a change for the better,” Fatoumata Binta Lena said on 16 October. A faucet in the family yard, which was usually dry except for a few hours in the middle of the night, now flows more often during daytime hours.

Mamadou Dian Diallo, in Conakry’s poor and crime-ridden Hamdallaye neighbourhood, told IRIN he and his neighbours have electricity far more regularly than in the past. “Before, we could go for a week without electricity – often even as long as a month. For several weeks now, in many areas the power has been coming on nearly every day at 6pm.”

Photo: Nancy Palus/IRIN
Mamadou Dian Diallo in the Hamdallaye neighbourhood of the Guinean capital, Conakry

“There has been some progress,” said Rabiatou Serah Diallo, head of the National Confederation of Guinean Workers union which spearheaded this year’s strikes. “Even if we haven’t seen total satisfaction, all the same we’ve seen progress [on the problem of water and electricity in some areas].”

Anything close to “total satisfaction” is a long way off in Guinea, a country rich in natural resources but where – according to the UN – just 8 percent of the population has access to electricity and around 50 percent to clean drinking water.

The new water and power connections have not been consistent and many Conakry neighbourhoods remain in total darkness even as neighbouring houses glow with dim lightbulbs. Many wonder whether the changes are due to quick fixes rather than durable repairs to a decrepit infrastructure and decades of poor management.

Water or riots

How long the people are willing to wait for real and lasting change, and what will mollify them in the meantime, are crucial questions, observers say.

“Today Guinea is a place where one sees immediately and very directly how the lack of access to basic goods and services affects stability and security,” said one international observer not authorised to speak on the record.
...If [access to water and electricity] is not achieved, it goes without saying that we cannot even talk about stability or peace in the country...

A leader of Guinea’s labour unions – the sector that launched the January/February strikes – said stability is out of the question if the people’s basic needs are not met.

“If [access to water and electricity] is not achieved, it goes without saying that we cannot even talk about stability or peace in the country,” Ibrahima Fofana, secretary general of the Guinean Workers Union, told IRIN on 16 October.

After the events of early this year – in which at least 137 people died in a crackdown by security forces – Guineans will not be ready for another compromise, observers told IRIN. One analyst who could not be named said, “If people were to take to the streets again it would be far worse.” He added, “The next time they would go all the way” – referring to youths who stood ready to continue their protests, in the face of deadly military force, until President Conte was out.

“In January and February there were times when nobody was in control here,” a Western diplomat told IRIN. “And there are a lot of young people in the suburbs who have got nothing to lose. If their frustration comes out because of poor services and such, it cannot be controlled other than by the army shooting them.”

He added, “I still think the prime minister has a lot of support from the general public and they want him to succeed. But I think it’s clear that people are getting frustrated.”

Observers and Guineans alike say they are concerned about the upcoming anniversary of the strikes. “If there aren’t concrete achievements by then, I think a lot of frustration will come out, if it doesn’t come before then,” the diplomat said.

Diallo in Hamdallaye, whose 16-year-old brother was shot dead in the military crackdown, said for now his brother and others cannot be said to have died in vain. “This will turn bad if and only if we don’t achieve what we fought for – that is, improvements in our living conditions.”

Adequate basic services could even play a role in tempering long-simmering ethnic tensions, some observers say. In the past few months, friction among Guinea’s three main ethnic groups – Soussou, Malinké and Peulh – has surfaced with some accusing Kouyate, who is Malinké, of favouring people of his ethnic group in choosing prefects or awarding contracts.

Gilles Yabi, West Africa analyst for the International Crisis Group said if the people were satisfied with Kouyate’s performance they would give less weight to the ethnic question. “Citizens would be less prone to fall into the ethnic debate if they saw the prime minister achieving steps that make a palpable difference in their daily living conditions.”

Back in the Cameroun section of Conakry, university student Oumar Ba held up the end of a gushing water pipe sticking out of the ground, demonstrating that there is water pressure even during the day. This was not the case in the past, he said. Asked why he thought this improvement came about, he smiled and said tentatively, as if he did not want to speak too soon, “Perhaps it’s because of le changement?”

GUINEA: Martial law hindering help for wounded

2007-11-01T08:49:00.000+01:00

CONAKRY, 13 February 2007 (IRIN) -

Guinean President Lansana Conte imposed martial law in Guinea on Monday effectively blocking the few emergency agencies that were working to treat people wounded during one of the worst days of violence.

The Guinean Red Cross, which had been running the only ambulance service in the country during violent protests in January and in the last three days, is now grounded by the curfew, Georg Cunz, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Guinea said on Tuesday.

“We are not able to operate today,” said Cunz. “We are in negotiations with the army to try and get freedom of movement, but they have not yet agreed. We are all at home trying to find out what’s happening,” he said.

Cunz said 15 ICRC and Guinea Red Cross ambulances worked throughout the day in Conakry on Monday transporting hundreds of wounded to the city’s dilapidated hospitals.

The Guinea Red Cross also operates in all 33 of Guinea’s provinces.

Following the widespread looting and fighting on Monday, Conte made an address on national radio on Monday evening, saying those protestors calling for his resignation were, “sending Guinea into civil war”.

He said the army would impose a strict curfew and that civilians would only be allowed to leave their houses between 4pm and 8pm. The military would also take control of all internal security, which is normally under the control of the police and gendarmerie, Conte said.

On Tuesday most of the streets in the capital Conakry and other towns were empty except for a heavy military presence. However in the morning there were some reports of clashes between youths and soldiers in some suburbs of Conakry, and later in the day in the provincial capital Labe in the centre of the country.

During the fighting on Monday, 245 wounded people arrived at Donka Hospital in Conakry, staff told IRIN. Media reports estimate that at least 20 people had been killed during the day.

Marie Jeanne Hautbois, head of the NGO Terres des Hommes, which is working to support Guinean staff at Donka, said conditions at the hospital are difficult but functional.

“The main problem is that most staff live in the suburbs and it’s very difficult for them to come to work now,” Hautbois said.

“The situation is difficult but the medical teams gained a lot of experience during last month’s violence and have made preparations to organise themselves,” Hautbois added.

However conditions in smaller hospitals in Conakry and elsewhere in the country could be worse, she said.

Guinea’s hospitals are so run down that Guineans usually rely on their families to bring them food and to shop for drugs and even the surgical equipment doctors need to treat them. Family members are often called on to donate blood for their relatives.

Many of the wounded at Donka came unaccompanied and are being treated with medical kits and supplies relief organizations provided during and after January’s violence, Hautbois said.

Also on Tuesday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that 550 metric tonnes of food worth more than US $350,000 was looted on Saturday and Monday from WFP warehouses in Labe and Kankan, and the WFP’s representative in Kankan had been evacuated to Mali after stone-throwing youths attacked the WFP compound.

The agency had suspended its operations in Guinea the week earlier, a WFP statement said.

The US Embassy flew a plane with 25 non-essential embassy staff and expatriates from Conakry to Dakar on Tuesday, but in a public alert to its citizens resident in Guinea said it was not conducting an evacuation.

Guinea

2007-10-30T08:59:00.000+01:00

well, to be honest , i can say that almost 95% of guinean people want a new gov with a new intellectual leader ( i mean intellectual president ) wich can lead the country toward development. because actually globalization has awaked all minds in Guinea. so, now youth claims real democratie; best education..and more in order to use geologic potentiality that god has given to us in the interest of the nation.for exemple, lets refer to the biggest mining company based in Guinea about more than 20 years ago. this company is called FRIGUIA. since then this company has been extracting bauxite from our land . but 80% of graduate student still of job..that means only both the membership of gov and the company are making profit in this deal. they usually sign mining convention to make their own money and send their children abroad to do good studies ( i mean the gov )

for the moment, that is all i can say...waiting forward to read from you...

NB: you can also visite those web sites for several informations even about that company or another else.. : www.guineenews.org or www.aminata.com....

CO2 Levels Begin Accelerated Climb

2007-10-30T08:40:00.000+01:00

With the shocking loss of the Arctic sea ice this summer and several new reports this week that oceans and tropical forests are now absorbing less of the world's steadily rising carbon emissions, our collective train wreck appears to have already tipped into fast forward.

"Global warming is a big feature of our lives now. It is no longer something that only future generations will have to cope with," said Ted Scambos, senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in the U.S. city of Boulder, Colorado.

The major ecosystems that absorb carbon emissions from the atmosphere are failing, and it is happening faster than anticipated, Scambos told IPS.

Stephen Leahy

Read more:

More Cars or More Transportation Alternatives: What Will the World Choose?

2007-10-30T08:37:00.000+01:00

As Tata Motors, one of Asia’s leading automakers, prepares to tap into India’s middle-class market by releasing the “world’s cheapest car” in 2008, other countries with a long history of car dependence are grappling with ways to limit the social, health, and environmental costs of motorized transport. One alternative is so-called bus rapid transit (BRT), which operates like rail transport but offers more flexibility in routes. The systems are gaining popularity in cities in the automobile-loving United States as well as in rapidly developing nations in Asia and Latin America.

Alana Herro

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Indian Gap supplier using child labour

2007-10-30T08:34:00.000+01:00

An Indian supplier to clothing retailer Gap Kids, one of the successful arm of the High Street giant Gap, has been found using child labour to produce garments, a media report said on Sunday.

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Rumsfeld Charged with Torture in French Court

2007-10-30T08:15:00.001+01:00

The complaint was registered at the office of the prosecutor of the Court of First Instance in Paris when Rumsfeld was in the city for a talk sponsored by Foreign Policy magazine.

"Rumsfeld must understand that he has no place to hide," Ratner added in a statement after filing the complaint. "A torturer is an enemy of all humankind."

The charges against Rumsfeld were brought under the 1984 Convention against Torture, ratified by both the United States and France, which has been used in France in previous torture cases.

Haider Rizvi

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This year's winners are:

2007-10-30T08:13:00.000+01:00

* Coca-Cola - for continuing the international marketing of its bottled water, Dasani, despite admitting it comes from the same sources as local tap water.

* Kellogg's - for the worldwide use of cartoon-type characters and product tie-ins aimed at children, despite high levels of sugar and salt in their food products.

* Mattel - for stonewalling US congressional investigations and avoiding overall responsibility for the global recall of 21 million products.

* Takeda Pharmaceuticals - for taking advantage of poor US regulation and advertising sleeping pills to children, despite health warnings about pediatric use.

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A country at war.

2007-10-27T11:01:00.000+02:00

Pakistan is about to descend even deeper into violence and chaos, as the front-line state in the war on terror prepares for an all-out offensive on the jihadi militants entrenched in Waziristan, the country's lawless northern province. In what amounts to total war on the Taliban and al-Qaeda, President Musharraf is planning to bring the whole region under military control. This is a high-risk strategy, as the consequences of failure could be devastating for Pakistan. They could even lead to the break-up of the country.

Ziauddin Sardar

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Guinea: Youths protesting power cuts

2007-10-26T08:08:00.000+02:00

UN Regional Information Network (IRIN)
October 24, 2007

Labe (Guinea) - “Electricity for all or for nobody”, chanted the 1,000 young protestors in Labé, central Guinea, as they marched on the town’s state electricity office earlier this month, chased out the staff and barricaded the doors. The youths then marched to the governor’s office
and handed him the keys, appealing to him to find a solution to Labé’s electricity problem.

The demonstrators did not use violence in the 10 October protest, sources in Labé told IRIN. “We just wanted to talk to the authorities and tell them our grievances,” Balde Thierno Souleymane, 22, said. “In Labé there was electricity in this or that area or for this or that family.
It was just nonsense.” Since the protest, there has been no electricity anywhere. Electricity problems have been the norm in Labé, like the rest of Guinea, for decades. The UN Development Programme said as of 2006 just 8 percent of Guinea’s some 9.4 million people had access to electricity. So why the protests now?

“Today, because of the strikes [of January and February 2007] Guineans have the guts to say what they want,” Balde told IRIN at the Moromi Café, a popular Labé gathering place for youths. Early this year Guinea saw unprecedented citizen demonstrations, as thousands of people poured into the streets denouncing poor living conditions. The protests, in
which security forces cracked down on civilians, paralysed the country for weeks. Guineans and outside observers alike say the nationwide strikes transformed Guineans, giving them a taste of the power of taking to the streets.

“Post-strike, what is irreversible is the awakening of the people’s conscience,” said Rabiatou Serah Diallo, secretary general of the National Confederation of Workers and a leader of the demonstrations. “This is not negotiable. It is irreversible. Today, the Guinean people know they
must fight to claim their rights. And they know that it will not be easy.” “Today the Guinean is going to stand up,” Balde in Labé told IRIN.

“Since the strikes a lot of things that people have long kept quiet about are coming out now.”

Alpha Ousmane Sacko, a Labé tailor, said: “We’ve finally seen that we’re too far behind the times. From now on, the people must speak up, they must not remain silent.” “Electricity is the motor here,” Sacko added. “If there is electricity the people can work at all hours they want
to.” Balde said for now, when night falls the city essentially stops moving. “Around 7pm, everyone rushes to get home. This means anyone who has a business or store in town cannot work past a certain time.” He said no one is happy with the power being cut off, but the youths see it as a temporary situation "while a lasting solution is sought.”

According to a government statement transformers were sent to Labé and the nearby town of Mamou in 2005 to boost electricity capacity there, “but the equipment did not work in Labé.” Youths told IRIN equipment has arrived in Labé over the years, but they accuse authorities of
misusing it or selling parts. Ramatoulaye Diallo, a mother of two in Labé, told IRIN the power cutoff is not felt by most. “It’s something we’re already used to; most of us live the problem of no electricity every day.” She added: “It’s not right that power is not available for all residents.”

Balde said, “Life is too hard here. We’re pushing so that our children and their children can live in better conditions.” He said Labé youths were waiting for a response from authorities. “The governor promised that he would go raise the issue in Conakry. We’re waiting now for his
response to us. We’re insisting, but we know this cannot be resolved in just one day.” One week after the Labé protests, the Minister of Energy and Water brought the issue to the weekly cabinet meeting. A communiqué from the meeting said the cabinet heard EDG’s director and would soon receive a delegation from the Labé governor’s office, “with the aim of ruling on this issue which is of great concern to the government.”

Coming in out of the cold: Cold fusion, for real

2007-10-24T17:40:00.000+02:00

After the 1989 announcement of fusion in a bottle, so to speak, and the subsequent retraction, the whole idea of cold fusion seemed a bit beyond the pale. But that's all about to change.

A very reputable, very careful group of scientists at the University of California at Los Angeles (Brian Naranjo, Jim Gimzewski, Seth Putterman) has initiated a fusion reaction using a laboratory device that's not much bigger than a breadbox, and works at roughly room temperature. This time, it looks like the real thing.

Michelle Thaller

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Guatemala: a good place to kill

2007-10-18T11:07:00.000+02:00

Guatemala's election is taking place against the background of a corroded state, riven society, disconnected elite and paralysed people.

"Guatemala has death-squads, polo matches, mega-churches and four television channels, all belonging to one foreigner. Only Russia has a higher murder-rate for women, only China exports more children for adoption to the United States. "

Ivan Briscoe's riveting essay dissects the elements of an unfolding crisis.

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The benefits of nuclear energy

2007-10-16T10:34:00.000+02:00

Nuclear energy is a clean, safe, reliable and competitive energy source. It is the only source of energy that can replace a significant part of the fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) which massively pollute the atmosphere and contribute to the greenhouse effect.

If we want to be serious about climate change and the end of oil, we must promote the more efficient use of energy, we must use renewable energies – wind and solar – wherever possible, and adopt a more sustainable life style. But this will not be nearly enough to slow the accumulation of atmospheric CO2, and satisfy the needs of our industrial civilization and the aspirations of the developing nations. Nuclear power should be deployed rapidly to replace coal, oil and gas in the industrial countries, and eventually in developing countries.

Bruno Comby

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Nepalese Civil War

2007-10-15T18:25:00.001+02:00

The Nepalese Civil War was a conflict between government forces and Maoist rebels in Nepal which lasted from 1996 until 2006. The war was started by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) on February 13, 1996, with the aim of establishing the "People's Republic of Nepal." It ended with a Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed on 21 November 2006 which is now monitored by United Nations Mission in Nepal.

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100 peso bill.

2007-10-15T18:16:00.000+02:00

...Roca's approach to dealing with the Indian communities of the Pampas, however, was completely different from Alsina's, who had ordered the construction of a ditch and a defensive line of small fortresses across the Province of Buenos Aires. Roca saw no way to end native attacks (malones) but by putting under effective government control all land up to the Rio Negro in a campaign that would "extinguish, subdue or expel" the indians who inhabited there. This land conquest would also strengthen Argentina's strategic position against Chile.

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No deal with kidnappers of Japanese student, says Tehran

2007-10-15T18:14:00.000+02:00

Oct. 15 - Tehran on Monday said that Iran would make no compromise with the kidnappers of a Japanese student in south-eastern Iran.

"Iran has had no compromising negotiations with the kidnappers and will neither pay any ransom nor make any exchange," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said in a press briefing.

Satoshi Nakamura, 23, was reportedly kidnapped last Monday in Bam, Kerman province, by the notorious criminal band of Ismael Shahbakhsh who has demanded the release of his son from jail in return of the Japanese student.

Confirming that the Japanese national was still alive, the spokesman said that Iranian security forces would spare no efforts to enable his swift release.

The spokesman denied Japanese press reports that Nakamura would soon be released but said he nonetheless hoped that this would soon be the case.

The kidnapping case is being dealt with by the Rassoul Akram security headquarters in Kerman, which is affiliated to the para- military revolutionary guards.

Nakamura is believed to been have transferred to the neighbouring Sistan-Beluchistan province or even to Pakistan, but no official statement has yet been made on his whereabouts.

The Japanese government also denied receiving any information on Nakamura's release, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Monday.

The abductee's father on Monday released a statement saying that the family hopes for Nakamura's early release and safe return home at the earliest possible date.

The father also apologized for causing trouble and said the family had earlier opposed his son's trip to Iran. The student was allowed to go in the end but was also told to avoid dangerous locations, Japanese media said./-

Situation in Turkey may develop by “Germany and Holocaust” scenario

2007-10-14T10:14:00.000+02:00

The situation in Turkey may develop by “Germany and Holocaust” scenario, said Alexander Sotnichenko, senior analyst of the Saint Petersburg Center of Oriental Studies.

The powerful Armenian lobby in the U.S. yields the palm to the Jewish lobby only. It constantly pressed on the U.S. presidential candidates and Senators to follow the example of France and Russia and pass a resolution recognizing the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as Genocide. The term “genocide’ is a very important factor,” he said reminding that all presidential contenders pledged to recognize the Armenian Genocide but none dared to do so hitherto in a fear to lose Turkey as a strategic ally,” the expert noted.

“The history of this resolution records many years. Turkey has been one of the strongest U.S. allies in Middle East since 1946. After the Islamic revolution in Iran, it remained the only one. The United States always attached priority status to relations with Turkey,” he said.

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Cities take the lead on climate change

2007-10-14T10:10:00.000+02:00

VAXJO, Sweden - When this quiet city in southern Sweden decided in 1996 to wean itself off fossil fuels, most people doubted the ambitious goal would have any impact beyond the town limits.

A few melting glaciers later, Vaxjo is attracting a green pilgrimage of politicians, scientists and business leaders from as far afield as the United States and North Korea seeking inspiration from a city program that has allowed it to cut CO2 emissions 30 percent since 1993.

Vaxjo is a pioneer in a growing movement in dozens of European cities, large and small, that aren't waiting for national or international measures to curb global warming.

Karl Ritter

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Unserved by banks, poor Kenyans now just use a cellphone

2007-10-14T09:36:00.000+02:00

Unserved by banks, poor Kenyans now just use a cellphone

With a click of a cellphone key, Bernard Otieno makes the transfer – sending funds instantly from his residence in a sprawling Nairobi slum to his wife, who holds down their rural family farm some 250 miles away.

Mr. Otieno, a security guard who works the night shift, used to risk carrying cash on infrequent, slow trips to his hometown or pay high rates to send money through the post office.

Now, he's one of a growing number of Kenyans tapping into a service called M-PESA – M for "mobile" and pesa for "cash" in Swahili. Launched this year, it's one of the world's first cellphone-to-cellphone cash-transfer services for people who lack access to conventional banks.

Matthew Clark

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Alliance of the Peoples of the Forest

2007-10-14T09:03:00.000+02:00

PEOPLES OF THE FOREST, UNITED IN NA ALLIANCE OF THE PEOPLES OF THE FOREST, LAUNCH MANIFEST TO SAVE THE AMAZON FROM THE TRAGEDIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE

WE, the Peoples of the Amazon Rainforest, reunited in the Negro River during the I Seminar on the Importance of the Peoples of the Forest in the Context of the Global Climate Change", organized by the Alliance of the Peoples of the Amazon Rainforest, a twenty-year old network working in the defense of the Amazon and of a better way of life for its peoples, decided:

WARN:

About the impact of the Climate Changes on the Planet, Brazil and the Amazon. Cientists reiterate that global warming can elevate the Amazon temperature in up to 12 degrees Celsius still in this Century, which will result in less rain, more draugth, less biodiversity and more danger for the peoples of the Amazon. And this impact is not virtual. It is already been felt by our communities, where our indigenous populations can no longer use the lunar calendar, because the wheather has already changed in our region.

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As war rages below, Iraqi Kurds lure tourists

2007-10-13T22:51:00.000+02:00

"Stability here is not understood in the world yet," Minister of Tourism Nimrud Baito said. "We need a media revolution to let people know that the Kurdistan region is something different from Iraq, especially as far as security goes. We think (conditions) here are only going to get better and better."

Faith in the future has attracted massive investment from one unlikely source -- neighboring Turkey.

Hundreds of diesel trucks rumble across the northern border each day with steel, concrete and other raw materials to feed a construction boom, despite heated rhetoric by Turkish officials over the Iraqi Kurds' unspoken bid for independence. Of nearly 600 foreign companies registered in the region, about 350 are Turkish.

Board of Investment leader Herish Muhamad says the Kurdish region expects rapid growth, thanks to a business-friendly climate that gives "maximum" rights to investors -- minimal state interference or bureaucratic red tape; the freedom to repatriate capital abroad or shut down anytime, or to import workers from anywhere in the world; a 10-year tax exemption, and no customs duties for five years on imported materials.

Jason Motlagh

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India’s Backdoor War

2007-10-13T22:41:00.000+02:00

India today is a media darling with a brisk economy to back it up. But rapid, urban-based development has passed by the rural poor, giving oxygen to a violent separatist movement that grows bolder by the year.

As Bollywood and the info-tech boom of the New India grab headlines, a low-intensity insurgency waged by Indian Maoist guerrillas – known as Naxalites – has gone virtually ignored for more than four decades. Their strength is largely due to the plight of “tribals” living deep in the central and northeast provinces, where state authority is weak at best and basic services are non-existent. Making matters worse is the state’s seizure of land for mining and forestry concessions.

Jason Motlagh

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Zen

2007-10-13T21:25:00.000+02:00

When people are happy and contented, they tend to take life for granted. It is when they suffer, when they find life difficult, that they begin to search for a reason and a way out of their difficulty. They may ask why some are born in poverty and suffering, while others are born in fortunate circumstances. Some people believe that it is due to fate, chance, or an invisible power beyond their control. They feel that they are unable to live the life they desire so as to experience happiness always. Consequently, they become confused and desperate. However, the Buddha was able to explain why people differ in their circumstances and why some are more fortunate in life than others. The Buddha taught that one's present condition, whether of happiness or suffering, is the result of the accumulated force of all past actions or karma.

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Pregnancy kills over 500,000 women a year

2007-10-13T21:10:00.000+02:00

More than half a million women still die every year in pregnancy or after childbirth in spite of two decades of efforts to bring down the toll, reports revealed on Friday.

Little has changed, particularly in much of the developing world. Women die of avoidable complications such as high blood pressure or haemorrhage in childbirth - and often the baby dies too or does not survive the next few years without a mother. Tens of thousands die painfully in backstreet abortions in countries where contraception is not readily available and abortion is heavily restricted or banned.

China Daily

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Turkey weighs costly retaliation on Armenian resolution

2007-10-13T15:17:00.000+02:00

"It may be long before the law of love will be recognised in international affairs. The machineries of government stand between and hide the hearts of one people from those of another."

M.K. Gandhi

...Faced with the day after, the Turkish capital is now thoroughly and, perhaps, reluctantly evaluating ways of retaliation. Thoroughly and reluctantly because retaliation through halting cooperation with the United States in strategic and economic areas is a double-edged sword that may equally harm Turkey, analysts agree. High tension in relations with the United States may prove to be an undesired situation for the Turkish government, which has worked carefully and successfully to achieve economic stability throughout the nearly five years that it has been in power.

As the White House had underlined, Turkey is an important logistical player in the Iraq war. The bulk of supplies for troops in Iraq pass through Turkey’s İncirlik airbase, and Turkey provides thousands of truck drivers and other workers for US operations in Iraq. Supplies also flow from the base to troops in Afghanistan.

A closure of İncirlik and halting cooperation with the United States on Iraq could be two ways of hurting US interests in a critical region like the Middle East. There are other steps that Turkish officials have refrained from publicly mentioning, such as cutting Turkey’s ongoing support for operations of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan or further tightening restrictions on ties with Armenia. There are tens of thousands of Armenians working in Turkey who do not meet the proper legal requirements, such as obtaining work or residence permits. And although there are no formal ties with Armenia, charter flights are in service between the two countries and Turkish goods find their way into the Armenian market.

Emine Kart

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Don't mention the dirty "GMO" word!

2007-10-12T16:18:00.000+02:00

Across Europe, 70 % of consumers have rejected GM foods. Therefore many food retailers and manufacturers have pledged to source their products from GMO-free sources. Due to GMO contamination, however, it may become difficult or even impossible for conventional and organic farmers to stay GMO-free. The future of sustainable agriculture is under threat. Firm (so called "coexistence") legislation to restrict the growing of GM crops and to safeguard conventional and organic farming from genetic pollution is urgently needed, but still far away from realisation. Also a legal regime is needed to make GMO operators and GMO producers liable for damage that GMOs can cause to the environment and human health.

Friends of the Earth's European GMO Campaign is working to safeguard GMO-free agriculture and to ensure that European citizens have the right to choose GMO-free food. To achieve this, Friends of the Earth's national groups across Europe are working together to:

actively lobby at EU and national level to strengthen GMO legislation;
promote the creation of GMO free zones;
increase public awareness and participation in decision-making about GMOs, and help ensure that consumers can exercise their right to choose about GM crops and food;
research information and propose policy solutions.

A new start for the young at art

2007-10-11T17:05:00.000+02:00

He's walked the tightrope at a circus, boiled cocoons at a silk unit from 3 am to midnight waiting for that odd powercut to provide a break, been part-time ragpicker and a fulltime beggar on the streets of Bangalore. A long CV for a 13-year-old but the past isn't what Nagaraj likes to talk about. Though he can still amaze you by sprinting across a parapet in true circus style, it's his skills with the brush that this blossoming artist is most keen to show off. Having already found buyers for many of his works, Nagaraj can not only afford to stay off the street but even fund the education of two other child labourers.

A childhood lost and a childhood regained. It's a transformation that very few of the country's 12.7 million child workers can make. But in Bangalore's Born Free Art School, art is making that leap of faith possible. Seventeen-year-old Raja was a ragpicker before he began giving shape to stone. Not one for drawing before he starts pounding, Raja says the picture's clear in his mind's eye. "Art needs discipline and concentration. For instance, a sculptor has to beat a stone 30,000 times before it takes shape. Many streetkids come here with a drug habit but it's art that weans them away," says John Devaraj, a sculptor who has founded this school.

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Brazilian NGOs launch unique initiative to end Amazon deforestation

2007-10-11T16:08:00.000+02:00

Nine Non-Governmental Organizations - Instituto Socioambiental, Greenpeace, Instituto Centro de Vida, Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International-Brazil, Amigos da Terra - Amazônia Brasileira, Imazon and WWF-Brazil - launch today (October 3rd) in Brasília a National Agreement to Acknowledge the Value of the Forest and to end Amazon Deforestation.

Civil society's proposal is an unique initiative to establish a broad commitment among several sectors of the Brazilian Government and the society about the necessary and urgent measures to ensure Amazon rainforest conservation, given its crucial importance to maintaining the climate balance, conserving the biodiversity and preserving the way of life of millions of people who rely on the forest to survive.

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Turkey blasts Armenian genocide bill

2007-10-11T15:40:00.000+02:00

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Turkey swiftly condemned a House panel's approval of a bill describing the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians as genocide, and newspapers blasted the measure on their front pages Thursday.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the bill Wednesday by a 27-21 vote despite intense lobbying by Turkish officials. The committee's vote was a triumph for well-organized Armenian-American interest groups who have lobbied Congress for decades to pass a resolution. President Bush warned that it could harm U.S.-Turkish relations, already stretched by accusations that Washington is unwilling to help Ankara crack down on Kurdish rebels based in Iraq.

C. Onur Ant

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Turkey plans long stay in northern Iraq

2007-10-11T15:36:00.000+02:00

The (turkish) government will send a motion to Parliament next week requesting authorization for a cross-border operation into northern Iraq to deal with a terrorist threat based there, with a possible incursion expected to involve up to 15,000 troops, government and security sources said.

Troops pounded PKK camps in N. Iraq with artillery fire after the government announced it would seek Parliament's approval for a cross-border military operation. This file photo shows soldiers carrying out an exercise in the area at an earlier date.

If it takes place as planned, this will be the largest-scale cross-border operation on Iraqi soil since 1997, when 50,000 soldiers entered northern Iraq. Sources said the military measures on the Iraqi side of the border will not be confined to a one-time operation carried out by a massive number of troops, as authorities are also planning to boost the existing Turkish military presence in northern Iraq to increase the Turkish military's ability to deal with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) threat over the border. A 150-member Turkish military base in the Bamerni area near Dohuk in northern Iraq will be reinforced with professionally trained personnel so that operations against PKK bases in the region can be conducted on a more regular basis.

Ercan Yavuz

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Who are indigenous peoples?

2007-10-08T23:19:00.000+02:00

United Nations human rights bodies, the International Labour Organisation, the World Bank and international law apply four criteria to distinguish indigenous peoples:

1. Indigenous peoples usually live within, or maintain an attachment to, geographically distinct ancestral territories.

2. They tend to maintain distinct social, economic and political institutions within their territories.

3. They typically aspire to remain distinct culturally, geographically and institu-tionally rather than assimilate fully into national society.

4. They self identify as indi-genous or tribal.

There is no universal and unambiguous definition of the concept of 'indigenous peoples', since no single accepted definition exists that captures the diversity of their cultures, histories and current circumstances. However, all attempts to define the concept recognise the linkages between people, their land and culture.

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'Depleted' Taliban steps up suicide bombings

2007-10-08T23:04:00.001+02:00

Gereshk, Afghanistan

British forces used to describe the Gereshk valley as the "black heart of Taliban country". After months of ferocious fighting, much of this area of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan has been reclaimed, and reconstruction and development work is at last under way.

But the violence has not abated. Instead, it has taken on the lethal form of suicide bombings.

The Taliban have incurred heavy losses in the area recently and this has prompted them to adopt the type of suicide bombing attacks prevalent in Iraq. Such bombings have claimed the lives of 35 people and have wounded 82 in a series of attacks in and around the town.

Kim Sengupta

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Public health: The hidden menace of mobile phones

2007-10-08T22:54:00.000+02:00

Research into the link between regular handset use and disease reveals the risks rise significantly after 10 years, despite official assurances that they are safe.

Geoffrey Lean

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Major airline refuses to help with forcible removal of immigrants

2007-10-08T22:50:00.000+02:00

An important part of the Government's immigration policy has suffered a serious blow after a leading airline announced it would no longer carry failed asylum-seekers who were being forcibly removed from the United Kingdom.

XL Airways, which has a fleet of 24 aircraft, said it was opposed to the policy because it had "sympathy for all dispossessed people in the world".

Robert Verkaik

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Pakistan enters political limbo

2007-10-08T22:34:00.000+02:00

Pakistan has entered a period of political limbo, caught between Gen. Pervez Musharraf's presidential election win and a future Supreme Court ruling on whether he was even eligible to run.

Musharraf scored an overwhelming victory Saturday in a vote by lawmakers that was boycotted by much of the opposition in protest against the U.S.-allied military leader.

The country must now wait at least 10 days for the Supreme Court to either confirm the result or disqualify Musharraf because he ran for re-election while retaining his position as army chief, which the constitution prohibits.

Sadaqat Jan

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The power behind the robe

2007-10-07T11:19:00.000+02:00

The Buddha said: “When the ruler of a country is just and good, the ministers become just and good; when the ministers are just and good, the higher officials become just and good; when the higher officials are just and good, the rank and file become just and good; when the rank and file become just and good, the people become just and good.”

If these admonitions are followed by the large community of monks—the Sangha—in predominantly Buddhist Burma, the lingering “love lost” relationship between the country’s military rulers and its monks should be no surprise.

Aung Zaw

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The Armenia thing.

2007-10-07T11:01:00.000+02:00

ANKARA-Reuters

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has told U.S. President George W. Bush that ties between the two countries will be hurt if the U.S. Congress passes a bill on the Armenian genocide, Turkish television reported Friday.

Erdoğan, who issued a similar warning earlier this year, made the comment in a telephone call to Bush, news channels CNN Türk and NTV reported. Erdoğan also called Israeli President Shimon Peres to secure Israel's support for Turkey's position. Peres, in return, reiterated that Israel will continue to support Turkey's position according to the news channel NTV.

The Bush administration opposes the resolution on the events in 1915 as the Ottoman Empire broke apart, but the U.S. Congress is now dominated by the Democratic Party and has become more influenced by the Armenian Diaspora.

Turkey is a key NATO ally of Washington and a moderate Muslim country whose support it needs in the region as it fights Iraqi insurgents and confronts Iran over its nuclear program.

A senior Turkish lawmaker has also warned previously that Ankara could consider restricting the U.S. military's use of Incirlik air base, a logistics hub for the Middle East, if the bill is passed.

Turkey has already sent delegations to the United States in a bid to halt the resolution.

Afghanistan...

2007-10-05T16:30:00.000+02:00

Testimony by Mark L. Schneider, Senior Vice President, International Crisis Group to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on “Counternarcotics and Police Training” in Afghanistan, 4 October 2007

...poppy cultivation is directly linked to insecurity and “inversely related to the degree of government control”. That report shows that from virtually no opium cultivation in the final year of the Taliban regime in 2001, today Afghanistan produces 93% of the world’s opium, cultivated on 193,000 hectares or 500,000 acres of land, a 17% increase after last year’s 59% increase. Afghanistan opium poppy now grows on land equal to nearly the size of the state of Rhode Island. Equally worrisome is that potential opium production in 2007 probably hit a world record at 8200 metric tons, a rise of 34%.

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Afghan deaths up 55 percent

2007-10-05T16:21:00.000+02:00

...Azimi said Pakistan last spring expelled foreigners – such as fighters from Uzbekistan - from its tribal region, a move that has had a negative impact on Afghanistan.

"When they said that all foreigners must leave Pakistan, where did they go? They came to Afghanistan," Azimi said. "They joined with the enemy and started fighting against Afghan forces here."

Afghanistan's security forces have also been hit hard, with more than 600 police killed already this year, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary, a higher figure than the AP count, which shows a total of 600 police and army soldiers killed this year.

Rahim Faiez

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Yet another tradition becomes a crime

2007-10-05T16:13:00.000+02:00

The tradition of keeping the hand on the horn and traveling as a wedding convoy with dozens of cars continues even though it has become a threat to traffic safety and a primary cause of noise pollution. But another tradition, that of stopping the wedding convoy and asking for money, now faces extinction due to increasing wedding costs in the modern world and the fact that people have even less of a reason to hand out money.

Doðan News Agency

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The Revision of Ancient History - A Perspective.

2007-10-05T15:45:00.000+02:00

Ancient History as taught today is a disaster area. Nothing fits convincingly together. The development of the arts, cultures and technologies from earliest times shows inexplicable incongruities. Art historians and archaeologists are in disarray. Why? Because the chronology of the first and second millennium BC is badly wrong. How did this disaster happen? As accident investigators well know, the sequence of events leading up to major disasters is invariably a sequence of highly unlikely and unexpected happenings and coincidences.

John Crowe

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SEPTEMBER 2007 TRENDS

2007-10-02T19:03:00.000+02:00

Eleven actual or potential conflict situations around the world deteriorated in September 2007, according to the new issue of CrisisWatch, released today.

Deteriorated Situations
Algeria, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia/Eritrea, Fiji, Lebanon, Myanmar/Burma, Nepal, North Caucasus (non-Chechnya), Somaliland (Somalia), Sudan

Improved Situations
Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone

Unchanged Situations
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Basque Country (Spain), Belarus, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Central African Republic, Chechnya (Russia), Colombia, Comoros Islands, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guinea, Guatemala, Haiti, India (non-Kashmir), Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel/Occupied Territories, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan), Niger, Nigeria, Northern Ireland (UK), North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Serbia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan Strait, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zimbabwe

conflict history - Iran

2007-10-01T12:31:00.000+02:00

Head of State: President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, June 2005-
Chief of State: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 1989- (appointed for life by Assembly of Experts)

With world's second-largest oil reserves, Iran served as western anchor in Middle East under Western-installed Shah regime from 1953 until 1979 Islamic revolution. The Shah had grown increasingly repressive in 1970s, relying on detention of political opponents, widespread torture, and martial law imposed in 1978. Various groups jockeyed for power after Shah’s departure, including communists, secular nationalists and Islamic socialists. Islamists loyal to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini eventually consolidated power and Iran became Islamic republic 1 April 1979. Khomeini soon assumed title "Supreme Leader", criticising West and secular Arab dictators alike and promising benevolent political Islam. U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in 1979 and failed rescue mission secured mutual enmity and further weakened American public image in the Middle East.

Western-backed Iraq invaded Iran in 1980 to take advantage of Iran's weakness, change disputed border on Shatt al-Arab waterway, and claim regional dominance. The war reached standstill in 1988 with estimated 800,000 to 1 million deaths. Iran supported militant Muslim groups in Middle East through 1980s and 1990s, including Hezbollah in Lebanon. U.S. Iran-Contra scandal saw illegal U.S. arms sales to Iran in effort to free hostages in Beirut, with proceeds used to support Contras in Nicaragua.

Following Ayatollah Khomeini’s death in 1989 and his replacement with former president Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s relations with West improved somewhat – mainly with Europe – despite fatwa issued against writer Salman Rushdie. Iran remained neutral in 1990 Gulf War and 2001 Afghanistan war, being enemy of both Iraq and Taliban. Iran maintained this stance again in 2003 Iraq war. Nevertheless, suspected support of militant groups in Lebanon and Palestine earned Iran U.S. sanctions in 1995 and Bush Administration’s label of "axis of evil" in 2002.

Khatami’s 1997 election brought about greater cooperation with neighbouring Arab countries and increased political and economic ties with Europe. Iran continued its civilian nuclear program, despite growing international concerns about its professed peaceful intentions. Internal tension in Iran between reformist Khatami and conservative chief of state caused deadlock in decision-making and political polarisation. President Khatami’s mandate (77 per cent of 2001 vote) did not lead to promised reforms and public disenchantment grew. Disqualification of reformist candidates by Council of Guardians led to conservative victory in February 2004 parliamentary elections. From 1999 to 2003, Iranian authorities continued to suppress student protests as internal dissent among large youth population increased.

Economic dissatisfaction led to surprise election of President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad in June 2005, defeating centrist former President Hashemi Rafsanjani running on platform of economic populism, to become Iran’s first non-cleric president in twenty-four years. Ahmadi-Nejad’s harsh pronouncements against Israel and uncompromising tone have significantly strained relations between West and Iran. In November 2005, Iranian Ambassadors to UK, Germany, France, and UN’s Geneva and Vienna offices were relieved of their posts. Supreme Leader Khameni appointed Rafsanjani as Chairman of Iran’s Expediency Discernment council as a check on Ahmadi-Nejad’s power, but the result of this has been inconclusive.

Also uncertain is the state of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. In October 2003, IAEA passed resolution that acknowledged Iran’s right to acquire nuclear technology for civilian energy use. In return, Iran agreed to voluntarily suspend uranium enrichment and allow additional IAEA protocol inspections. But since August 2005, Iran has broken off nuclear negotiations with the West, removed IAEA seals at certain research plants, and restarted uranium enrichment in Natanz. IAEA Board of Governors officially reported Iran to UN Security Council in February 2006. So far Iran has refused Russia’s proposal to host enrichment sites for its nuclear program on Russian territory, and UN Security Council is to debate utility of economic sanctions.

Updated March 2006

International crisis group

The enough project

2007-09-30T19:26:00.000+02:00

Our mission is to stop and prevent genocide and mass atrocities by promoting Peace, providing Protection, and Punishing the perpetrators. We use field and policy analysis and strong policy advocacy to empower a growing activist movement for change.

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El Parlamento quiere que el Gobierno de Canadá detenga el apoyo a proyectos mineros destructivos en el exterior

2007-09-24T00:05:00.000+02:00

Organizaciones de Canadá y el mundo han estado trabajando para generar consciencia sobre las devastadoras consecuencias sociales y ambientales asociadas con frecuencia a las operaciones de las compañías de explotación minera canadienses en otros países. Un reciente informe parlamentario invita al gobiernom a:

1) parar de usar el dinero del contribuyente para apoyar proyectos mineros canadienses destructivos en el exterior;

2) considerar a las compañías de explotación minera canadienses legalmente responsables de las violaciones de los derechos ambientales y humanos en otros países, y;

3) forzar al Banco Mundial a respetar estándares internacionales de los derechos humanos.

Al gobierno le quedan cerca de 60 días para responder, pero no quisiera nada más que barrer el informe debajo de la alfombra. La acción es necesaria para presionar al gobierno a adoptar las recomendaciones del Parlamento y para tratar inmediatamente los escándalos internacionales en curso asociados a la industria de explotación minera canadiense.

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Another miner bites the dust

2007-09-23T23:39:00.000+02:00

11th April 2007

The world's biggest pension fund has - for the second time - disinvested from a mining company on the grounds that its investment poses an "unacceptable risk of contributing to [the company's] severe environmental damages."

Norway's Government Pension Fund-Global kicked Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold off its list last year, due to continuing and continual pollution caused by the Grasberg mine in West Papua (in which it is partnered by Rio Tinto).

Now it has done the same to DRD whose operations - in particular riverine waste disposal from its Tolukumua Gold mine in Papua New Guinea - are in breach of international norms.

Pension fund stake in Barrick Gold spurs controversy

2007-09-23T23:31:00.000+02:00

by Aftenposten (Norway)

23rd July 2007

Norway's much-vaunted pension fund, which has a stated policy of ethical investments, owns stock in a Canadian mining company accused of polluting an island in the Philippines and causing severe health problems among its residents.

Miinister of Finance, Kristin Halvorsen, said the pension fund's stake in Barrick would be evaluated.

Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported on its national newscast Sunday evening that the pension fund created by oil revenues has NOK 862 million (about USD 145 million) invested in Barrick Gold, which is blamed for illness and even death among the population of the island. Toronto-based Barrick Gold took over a company, Placer Dome, that mined copper, silver and gold on the island of Marinduque in the Philippines. The company also spewed mine waste that polluted local waters, not least with mercury and lead.

Studies have shown high concentrations of the poisonous metals in the bay at Marinduque. Philippine health authorities have also found high concentrations of lead in children and adults living in the island's fishing villages.

One resident interviewed by NorWatch, the business news service for environmental group Future in Our Hands, had lost a leg to metal poisoning, suffered a variety of other ailments and was barely able to support his family any longer.

The Philippine authorities want to move the community away from the polluted bay, but lack funding to do so. They're suing Barrick, seeking compensation for the environmental damage done to the island. Barrick has said it will vigorously oppose the claims against it. NorWatch said a Barrick spokesman declined comment pending resolution of the lawsuits.

A statement on the company's website claimed that Barrick "believes that anything short of best management is unacceptable. Environmental excellence is a strategic business objective. Barrick is committed to protecting the environment wherever the Company is exploring for new resources, or developing, operating or closing mines."

The ethical guidelines for Norway's pension fund raise serious questions about its investment in Barrick, yet the fund has boosted its stake over the past several years. Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen said on national TV that the stake would be investigated, acknowledging that the circumstances around Barrick on Marinduque are "serious."

Latin America: Native leaders half-heartedly embrace historic declaration

2007-09-23T23:23:00.000+02:00

MEXICO CITY, Sept 14 (IPS) - While governments and the representatives of international agencies celebrated the approval of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples after more than two decades of negotiations, some native leaders and experts in Latin America were less enthusiastic.

In their criticism of the document, indigenous leaders Manuel Castro of Ecuador and Luis Andrade of Colombia, as well as the former director of the Inter-American Indigenous Institute, Jose del Val, pointed out to IPS that it is non-binding, and that parts of it were negotiated with little participation by the representatives of its presumptive beneficiaries.

A slightly different stance was taken by the spokesman for the Rigoberto Menchu Foundation, Elmer Erazo, who said the Declaration could be considered a stride forward "to the extent that indigenous people make use of it."

But, he told IPS, "it's nothing to jump up and down about."

Diego Cevallos

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New postings for week beginning 24th September 2007

2007-09-23T23:16:00.000+02:00

In an unprecedented judgment for Canada's First Nations and environmental protection, a government panel has resoundingly rejected a plan to dump mine wastes into a lake.

New York's Attorney General has subpoenaed five companies - including Peabody Energy, the world's biggest coal strip miner - to divulge their greenhouse gas liabilities to shareholders. Another utility has been dealt a record penalty for its contributions to generating acid rain.

Yet, at the same time, increased coal consumption has been given a boost by the United Nations. And a commission has failed to resolve burning conflicts over Bangladesh's own coal policy.

China is now the world's biggest producer of steel, but it's a role the government doesn't relish, citing pollution and unsustainable economic development as reasons for cutting back. Meanwhile the regime is providing a massive boost to mining in Africa, particularly DR Congo.

There's doubt in Kyrgyzstan about benefits which will accrue from a reorganisation of the government's share in central Asia's biggest gold mine. Nor are some South American organisations completely convinced by the recent UN vote on the Declaration of Indigenous Peoples' rights.

What does seem undeniable, however, is that a top Newmont employee is living in cloud cuckoo land.

Mines and communities

Behind Crew mining are all the major Norwegian companies and the Norwegian state.

2007-09-23T22:51:00.000+02:00

The following is a position paper of groups on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines against the March 2004 claims of the Canadian/Norwegian mining Company Crew Development Corp concerning their plans to mine the lands of the Mangyan Peoples of Mindoro.

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mass ignorance and mass apathy

2007-09-23T19:01:00.001+02:00

The vast changes taking place in our civilization have had one thing in common. They have often seemed to reduce the efforts of the individual citizen to insignificance. For this is certainly the age of the mass market, the mass media, the mass civilization. Out of this age, two great dangers have arisen - mass ignorance and mass apathy.

As the industrial era has accelerated, it has been the specialist - the market analyst, the computer systems designer, the neurosurgeon, the nuclear scientist - in short, the expert - who has become important. Experts are indeed necessary. But with their increasing importance, we too often are tempted to say, when considering matters of public policy, "What do I know about it? I'm no expert."

I say to you that the individual, despite indications to the contrary, is more important than ever, and that the ability of our citizens to influence public policy is also more important than ever.

In our system, it is how much the ordinary citizen knows - and even more important, how much he cares - that will determine the outcome of large issues. Experts of course are necessary, and their advice should be heard, but in the end, it is often the non-expert who must make the decisions.

An active Citizen in our democracy must hold forthright opinions. But if his opinion is to be of significant value to his country, three thinngs are required:

He must have derived that opinion from a reasonable understanding of the facts, and not from mere prejudice.

Second, he must care about the issue, whatever it may be.

And third, he must do something about it.

Even if all he does is talk to his neighbor, a purpose will have been served, but in a nation like ours - where only a small fraction of the population takes an active part in election campaigns beyond the act of voting - the latitude for effective political action, if one cares to take the trouble, is extremely broad.

A Citizen of the United States has a greater duty than merely to register an uninformed personal preference at the polls, and the college graduate, in particular, has a responsibility to commit himself to some larger cause than the mere pursuit of an ever-higher standard of living for himself and his family.

The facts are available. They are given to us every day by newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. But to many of us, the public business often appears to be too complicated to make interesting reading. Because we cannot foresee the outcome of the disarmament talks, or because we cannot fully comprehend the complexity of tax problems - or, most often, because we feel no personal involvement - we skip to the sports page or to the fashion column.

This public apathy, in my opinion, may well be the greatest single danger we face today. It gives rise to an automatic process in which blind prejudice is substituted for reason - and thus all problems become over-simplified. Out of such reactions have grown both the hysterical right and the hysterical left. One contends that the real danger in the world today is subversion within our country and within our government. The other maintains that our whole society is manipulated by a small clique of businessmen, military leaders, and power-hungry politicians.

Both views are, of course, nonsense. Power in this country rests today more than ever with the people. The problem is that they use their power too seldom...

Clarence Douglas Dillon

Show us the money

2007-09-20T13:14:00.000+02:00

Again, according to Lehman Brothers, the 18th century saw 11 banking and financial crashes and the 19th another 18, including American banking crises in (to keep things brief) 1819, 1837, 1847, 1857, 1873, 1884, 1890 and 1896. There were a healthy 33 such storms in the 20th century, chief among them the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Japanese financial turmoil of the 1990s. All, to varying degrees, have caused considerable distress to investors and savers large and small. Stuffing the lot under your mattress may not be such a crazy notion after all.

Jon Henley

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Empires have different profiles.

2007-09-20T11:57:00.001+02:00

The US Empire has a complete configuration, articulated in a statement by a Pentagon planner: "The de facto role of the United States Armed Forces will be to keep the world safe for our economy and open to our cultural assault. To those ends, we will do a fair amount of killing".

Blum's list of interventions up to the year 2000 covers 67 cases since 1945 (Grossman has 56, the criteria differ somewhat):

China 45-51, France 47, Marshall Islands 46-58, Italy 47-70s, Greece 47-49, Philippines 45-53, Korea 45-53, Albania 49-53, Eastern Europe 48-56, Germany 50s, Iran 53, Guatemala 53-90s, Costa Rica 50s, 70-71, Middle East 56-58, Indonesia 57-58, Haiti 59, Western Europe 50s-60s, British Guiana 53-64, Iraq 58-63, Soviet Union 40s-60s, Vietnam 45-73, Cambodia 55-73, Laos 57-73, Thailand 65-73, Ecuador 60-63, Congo-Zaire 77-78, France-Algeria 60s, Brazil 61-63, Peru 65, Dominican Republic 63-65, Cuba 59-, Indonesia 65, Ghana 66, Uruguay 69-72, Chile 64-73, Greece 67-74, South Africa 60s-80s, Bolivia 64-75, Australia 72-75, Iraq 72-75, Portugal 74-76, East Timor 75-99, Angola 75-80s, Jamaica 76, Honduras 80s, Nicaragua 78-90s, Philippines 70s, Seychelles 79-81, South Yemen 79-84, South Korea 80, Chad 81-2, Grenada 79-83, Suriname 82-84, Libya 81-89, Fiji 87, Panama 89, Afghanistan 79-92, El Salvador 80-92, Haiti 87-94, Bulgaria 90-91, Albania 91-92, Somalia 93, Iraq 90s, Peru 90s, Mexico 90s, Colombia 90s, Yugoslavia 95-99.

There was bombing in 25 cases (for details, read the book):China 45-46, Korea/China 50-53, Guatemala 54, Indonesia 58, Cuba 60-61, Guatemala 60, Vietnam 61-73, Congo 64, Peru 65, Laos 64-73, Cambodia 69-70, Guatemala 67-69, Grenada 83, Lebanon-Syria 83-84, Libya 86, El Salvador 80s, Nicaragua 80s, Iran 87, Panama 89, Iraq 91-, Kuwait 91, Somalia 93, Sudan 98, Afghanistan 98, Yugoslavia 99. Assassination of foreign leaders, among them heads of state, was attempted in 35 countries, and assistance with torture in 11 countries: Greece, Iran, Germany, Vietnam, Bolivia, Uruguay, Brazil, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama
On top of this come 23 countries where the United States has intervened in elections or has prevented elections: Italy 48-70s, Lebanon 50s, Indonesia 55, Vietnam 55, Guayana 53-64, Japan 58-70s, Nepal 59, Laos 60, Brazil 62, Dominican Republic 62, Guatemala 63, Bolivia 66, Chile 64-70, Portugal 74-5, Australia 74-5, Jamaica 76, Panama 84, 89, Nicaragua 84,90, Haiti 87-88, Bulgaria 91-92, Russia 96, Mongolia 96, Bosnia 98.

35 (attempted) assassinations + 11 countries with torture + 25 bombings + 67 interventions + 23 interferences with other people's elections give 161 forms of aggravated political violence only since the Second World War.

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Why Did Senator John Kerry Stand Idly By?

2007-09-19T23:18:00.000+02:00

Naïve Americans who think they live in a free society should watch the video filmed by students at a John Kerry speech September 17, Constitution Day, at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?filmID=601

Iran : la présidence tumultueuse d’Ahmadinejad

2007-09-19T22:31:00.000+02:00

Bien que, depuis la victoire électorale de Mahmoud Ahmadinejad en juin 2005, l’attention se soit surtout portée sur sa politique étrangère, le destin de sa présidence dépend au moins tout autant de sa performance au niveau national. Élu sur une plateforme promettant la justice économique et un « gouvernement propre », il sera essentiellement jugé sur ses résultats dans ces domaines. Jusqu’à présent, les résultats sont mitigés. Des prix du pétrole élevés ont permis de consacrer davantage aux programmes sociaux. Mais, dans l’ensemble, le président n’a pas été capable de tenir ses promesses et son mandat, encore loin d’être fini, a été marqué par des conflits répétés avec les autres institutions et centres de pouvoirs. La raclée qu’ont subi le président et ses alliés lors des élections de décembre 2006 pour les conseils municipaux et l’Assemblée des experts trahit l’existence de problèmes sérieux tant dans le camp conservateur qu’au sein du public en général et suggère que la pression nationale plutôt qu’internationale reste le meilleur moyen de pousser au changement en Iran.

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The American Conundrum

2007-09-19T18:37:00.000+02:00

In the 111 years between 1890 (the brutal murder of the Dakota Indians) and 2001 (the punitive expedition to Afghanistan after 9/11), there have been throughout the world 133 interventions by the U.S. (direct military, or hatched by the C.I.A. with local collaborators) which resulted between 12 million to 16 million people losing their lives. 70 of those interventions took place after the Second World War.

Johan Galtung

The scale of suffering for animals in the world today is unprecedented.

2007-09-19T18:29:00.000+02:00

Around 60 billion farm animals are used each year globally to produce meat, milk and eggs. The majority are raised in industrial farming systems where their welfare needs are not met.
Globally, there are some 600 million dogs, and a similar number of cats, of which an estimated 80% are stray or unwanted.
The illegal and often inhumane trade in wildlife and wildlife parts is a soaring black market worth $10 billion a year, exceeded only by arms and drug smuggling. Millions of wild animals are killed, captured or traded inhumanely in this shady business.
An estimated 80% of power input on farms in developing countries is supplied by draught animals, however the resources made available are often woefully inadequate, leading to significant welfare issues.
Animals are also affected on a huge scale by natural disasters, though seldom considered.

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The Deadliest Item at Your Grocery Store?

2007-09-19T09:03:00.000+02:00

Somewhere in the northern Pacific floats a non-biodegradable petrochemical blob that's twice the size of Texas. Much of this deadly mess originated when someone innocently took home their shopping in a plastic bag.In the U.S. alone, we throw away 100 billion plastic bags each year -- the equivalent of 12 million barrels of oil. Yikes! What can you do?

Tune in to Orli Cotel's Sierra Club Radio interview with Katherine Mieszkowski, of Salon, to find out.

FOX's "balanced" analysis of the Petraeus hearings

2007-09-19T09:01:00.000+02:00

Have a look:

Meteorito que cayó en Puno afecta salud de comuneros

2007-09-18T14:18:00.000+02:00

(AFP) Un meteorito que cayó a tierra el fin de semana en Puno (sudeste) en medio de una fuerte explosión, ha provocado náuseas y dolores de cabeza a los pobladores de una comunidad cercana, informaron autoridades regionales.

Siete policías que llegaron al lugar de la caída, cerca a la frontera con Bolivia, sufrieron náuseas, vómitos y dolores de cabeza debido a un extraño olor que emana del lugar e inunda la zona, dijo en declaraciones a RPP el médico Jorge López, director de Salud de Puno.

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Greenspan admits Iraq was about oil, as deaths put at 1.2m

2007-09-18T12:16:00.000+02:00

The man once regarded as the world's most powerful banker has bluntly declared that the Iraq war was 'largely' about oil.

Greenspan's damning comments about the war come as a survey of Iraqis, which was released last week, claims that up to 1.2 million people may have died because of the conflict in Iraq - lending weight to a 2006 survey in the Lancet that reported similarly high levels.

Peter Beaumont and Joanna Walters

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Greenspan, Kissinger: Oil Drives U.S. in Iraq, Iran

2007-09-18T11:53:00.000+02:00

Alan Greenspan had acknowledged what is blindingly obvious to those who live in the reality-based world: the Iraq War was largely about oil.

Meanwhile, Henry Kissinger says in an op-ed in Sunday's Washington Post that control over oil is the key issue that should determine whether the U.S. undertakes military action against Iran.

These statements would not be remarkable, but for the effort of a broad swath of the U.S. political establishment to deny the central role of oil in U.S. involvement in the Middle East.

Greenspan's remarks, appearing first in his just-published memoirs, are eyebrow-raising for their directness:

Robert Wiessman

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A 10 años de la masacre de Acteal, ni verdad ni castigo

2007-09-18T00:54:00.001+02:00

El 22 de diciembre de 1997 a las 11:30 de la mañana 33 mujeres -14 de ellas niñas- y 12 hombres -4 de ellos niños- tzotziles fueron masacrados en Acteal, municipio de San Pedro Chenalhó, como resultado de la incursión militar en la zona zapatista de los Altos de Chiapas.

Los atacantes, que fueron reconocidos como miembros del grupo paramilitar priista Máscara Roja estaban armados con fusiles AK-47 y M-16 y utilizaron balas expansivas contra las y los indígenas tzotziles que se encontraban rezando en una iglesia en la comunidad de Acteal, según un comunicado de prensa del Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN).

Hypatia Velasco Ramírez

Les mer:

Irán sigue siendo el principal objetivo militar de Estados Unidos

2007-09-18T00:27:00.000+02:00

¿Qué pasó con el inminente ataque militar contra Irán? Ataque al que incluso distintas fuentes llegaron a dar fecha y hora. ¿Es posible que la dupla belicista EEUU/Israel haya desistido o aplazado el ataque? ¿Realmente existe el plan de ataque? O, ¿Sólo es una conjetura? Como aseveran algunos comentarios suspicaces. Estos son algunos de los interrogantes que comúnmente surgen con relación a la crisis iraní.

Víctor Wilches

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