Women in Indonesia subjected to painful 'virginity tests' to join police force

Human rights watchdog says female recruits face degrading and invasive tests

HEATHER SAUL -

 

 Wednesday 19 November 2014

The Government in Indonesia is subjecting female recruits for its national police to painful and traumatic “virginity tests”, a human rights watchdog has found.

Women in Indonesia are required to complete an “obstetrics and gynaecology” exam as part of the recruitment process to enter the force.

Indonesia’s National Police jobs website states that in addition to medical and physical tests, women hoping to become policewomen must also undergo virginity tests.

A note on the website adds: “So all women who want to become policewomen should keep their virginity.” Women who are married are not eligible to apply.

The “discredited and degrading” exam is given early in the recruitment process to determine if the woman’s hymen is still intact, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Female recruits who “fail” the test are not necessarily disqualified from the recruitment process, but HRW says the practice contravenes national police principles that the process of recruitment must be both “nondiscriminatory” and “humane”.

It says the virginity tests also violate international human rights policy.

The organisation interviewed female police recruits and officers from six Indonesian cities, who described the test as distressing, with one applicant saying: “They inserted two fingers. It really hurt. My friend even fainted because ... it really hurt, really hurt.”

Another 19-year-old woman said she was “humiliated” by the virginity test. “Why should we take off our clothes in front of strangers?” she asked. “Yes, [the virginity testers] were women, but they were total strangers. It was discriminatory. It is not necessary. I think it should be stopped.”

An 18-year-old woman said she was told ahead of the internal examination that any applicants who did not want to be tested could resign from the selection process – meaning they would not be able to enter the force.

She also described candidates fainting “due to the stress” of the test.

Nisha Varia, associate women’s rights director at HRW, said the use of virginity tests is “a discriminatory practice that harms and humiliates women”.

“Police authorities in Jakarta need to immediately and unequivocally abolish the test, and then make certain that all police recruiting stations nationwide stop administering it.”

An Indonesian police spokesman said the test was no reason to “respond negatively” to the force’s requirements.

Maj Gen Ronny Sompie claimed the exam was used to establish whether applicants have contracted a sexually transmitted infection. “All of this is done in a professional manner and [does] not harm the applicants,” he added.

Police capture cult leader Rampal, six dead as compound stormed

1 OF 4. Satguru Rampalji Maharaj, a self-styled "godman" is escorted to the high court after his arrest, in Chandigarh November 20, 2014. 

2 OF 4. Satguru Rampalji Maharaj, a self-styled "godman" is seen inside a police lock-up after his arrest, at Panchkula in Haryana November 20, 2014. 
3 OF 4. Policemen collect belongings left behind by the supporters of Satguru Rampalji Maharaj after they left the ashram of Rampal in Hisar in Haryana November 19, 2014. 

NEW DELHI Thu Nov 20, 2014

(Reuters) - Self-styled religious leader Satguru Rampalji Maharaj was charged on Thursday with sedition and waging war against the state after a days-long siege of his sprawling compound ended in his arrest along with 450 hardcore followers.

Police evacuated more than 10,000 followers on Wednesday from the fortified compound of a bizarre cult headed by the 'godman' before capturing him late in the evening.

Rampal, as the 63-year-old former engineer is known to his followers, was shown in TV news footage gripping the bars of a holding cell. He had been wanted for ignoring more than 40 court summonses in connection with a murder case.

"I am innocent," Rampal told reporters as he was brought out, handcuffed, from a court in Chandigarh. "All allegations against me are false."

Police used tear gas, water cannon and bulldozers to storm Rampal's 12-acre (5-hectare) base on Wednesday, breaching resistance from a human chain of supporters outside, and men throwing stones and bottles filled with acid from its roof.

Officials said the bodies of five women and one infant had been found. There were no bullet marks or injuries on the dead, who were sent for postmortem examinations.

Tensions rose last week after a judge ordered Rampal's arrest over a 2006 murder case, in which he is accused of telling supporters to open fire on villagers, killing one and injuring six.

Rampal heads a sect that worships the 15th-century poet and mystic Kabir, known for a message of tolerance that is followed by people of varied faiths.

He is one of an array of spiritual leaders in India who attract devoted followings and, in some cases, gain significant money, power and political influence.

(Reporting by Tanya Ashreena; Editing by Douglas Busvine)

Six months after Ebola appeared, Sierra Leone still lacks beds for patients

The lack of beds for infected patients has led to the rapid spread of the disease.

Nov. 19, 2014A member of the burial team struggles to regain his footing as the body of Alie Fonnah is lowered into a grave at King Tom Cemetery in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post

By Kevin Sieff November 20 at 3:30 AM

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Outside Connaught Hospital, the woman with the glassy eyes and raging fever had been waiting all day, hoping that a doctor might be able to answer her questions: Did she have Ebola? Could someone treat her?
Six Months After Ebola Appeared, Sierra Leone Still Lacks Beds for Patients by Thavam Ratna

Heavy weapons-A new study offers hope in the battle against bulging waistlines

Nov 22nd 2014

IT HAS become a cliché to call obesity a big problem for a reason: more than 2.1 billion people, or nearly 30% of the global population, are overweight or obese. Excess weight leads to about 5% of worldwide deaths. On current trends, almost half of the world’s adults will be fat by 2030. Over the past three decades, according to a study in the Lancet, a medical journal, no nation has slimmed down.

It’s enough to drive a person to comfort eating. But a new study from the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), the consultancy’s research arm, offers some hope. It looks at 74 anti-obesity measures around the world, and judges the cost and impact of the 44 for which there were sufficient data. None alone could do much, it concludes, but all 44 together could mean about a fifth of overweight people achieving a reasonable waistline within five to ten years.

The interventions range from nudges (making healthy eating choices easier) to shoves (taking poor eating choices away). The most effective would force food producers and restaurants to make servings smaller and limit fatty ingredients (see chart). Others are less paternalistic, such as having grocery stores promote healthy products instead of sugary ones. But leaving it to individuals to slim down through dieting and exercise without any such help, MGI concludes, consistently fails.

How much governments should do to promote healthier lifestyles sparks vigorous debate, especially among Americans, who prize freedom as much as freedom fries. When Michael Bloomberg, then the mayor of New York, tried to limit the size of sugary drinks in 2012 he faced a backlash, and was stopped by the courts. In Europe a number of countries have all but rid foods of trans fats, which have particularly potent artery-clogging effects. America is heading in that direction, too.

John Stuart Mill, the liberty-loving 19th-century philosopher, saw state action as justifiable to prevent deeds harmful to others. Some regard anti-obesity measures as falling into that category. Rich countries devote 2-7% of their health spending to the problem, and up to 20% if you include treatment of associated diseases, such as diabetes. The economic burden of obesity, MGI estimates, is 2.8% of global GDP, roughly equal to that of smoking or war.

Almost all the measures analysed in the report are cost-effective, offering health-care savings and productivity gains that would outweigh their cost over the lifetime of the target population. If they were all deployed in Britain, which it uses as a worked example, the economic benefit would be around $25 billion a year. Yet Britain currently spends less than $1 billion a year on weight-management programmes, public-health campaigns and the like.

The MGI report is but a partial picture. It cannot vouch for all of the third-party research it cites. And it focuses on behaviour, rather than clinical questions such as the role of specific nutrients or genetics in obesity. It thus glosses over disagreement about what makes people fat. More study is promised. Consider this an appetiser.

Protest prevents Sri Lankan military land grab attempt in Jaffna

18 November 2014
A protest held by villagers in Mathakal, Jaffna prevented the Sri Lankan navy from surveying lands which were to be acquired by the military this week.

When surveyors from the military arrived at the area, villagers protested against their presence, reports Uthayan. The villagers, who were told to produce documents confirming their ownership of the land by surveyors, refused to allow the military personnel on to their property, stating they would not allow any surveying to take place.


4 acres of land were marked to be seized by the Sri Lankan military.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan army went on to survey land around the Sunnakam, Sabapathippillai and Madaththadi Welfare Centres.

The Sabapathippillai and Madaththadi Welfare Centres host 287 families across some 160 acres of land, reports Uthayan.

One of those living at the centre told the Jaffna daily,

“The army brought land surveying officers in the morning and measured the lands. It seems as if it is an attempt to settle us [permanently] in the particular lands. We cannot accept this. We want our own lands, not any other lands.”

“Tamil politicians should come forward to somehow recover us our own lands”, the people in the welfare centres requested. 

For Mannar Bishop, Joseph Vaz led John Paul II and Francis to Sri Lanka
11/18/2014
At the 2014 AsiaNews International Symposium, Mgr Rayappu Joseph talks about the challenges and work of the Catholic Church in his country. Francis will be the first pope to visit the Tamil North, which has suffered 30 years of civil war. He insists on the need to "overcome tensions and polarisation between different communities".


Vatican City (AsiaNews) - John Paul II's visit in 1995 and Francis' visit in 2015 are linked by a "blessed coincidence," embodied by the figure of Fr Joseph Vaz "who brought the Catholic faith to Sri Lanka and proclaimed the Word of God in defiance of persecution under Dutch rule," said Mgr Rayappu Joseph, bishop of Mannar.

Scheduled to be one of the speakers at the 2014 AsiaNews International Symposium on the Mission in Asia: from Pope John Paul II to Pope Francis, the bishop had to back out at the last moment for health reasons. He was represented however by one of his priests who delivered the speech he had prepared for the Symposium.

Although he was recovering himself from an injury, "John Paul II beatified the Apostle of Sri Lanka," the prelate said. "Now, next January, Pope Francis will come to our island to celebrate his canonisation." This is a blessing for the country's Catholics, who "already consider Fr Vaz a saint."
For Mgr Joseph, Pope Francis' visit is doubly important because he "will be the first pope to set foot in northern Sri Lanka [where the civil war raged until 2009] where he will meet the Tamil population."

Although Buddhism is the country's largest religion (69.3 per cent), Christians (mostly Catholics) account for 7.4 per cent of the total. In the Diocese of Mannar, "Tamils are the majority but the district is also the only one in Sri Lanka where Catholics are the largest group with 32 per cent."
Sadly, "the area and its people were deeply affected by the war and the following five years." Mgr Joseph said. In fact, in 2009, Sri Lanka's 35-year civil war ended with the government's victory over Tamil Tiger rebels who had embarked on an armed struggle to set up an independent state in the northeast part of the island nation.

Although five years have passed since the end of the conflict, "Tamils in the north are still under martial law," the bishop of Mannar said, and "The military is present in every aspect of life," not only "monitoring religious ceremonies, social events, educational development, economic activity and tourism" but also causing "sexual abuse, disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture."

Faced with such a complex situation, the Catholic Church is a leading supporter of the local population. "During the war," Mgr Joseph noted, "priests in Mannar and Jaffna remained in the areas most affected by the war even though they had a chance to go anywhere else."

Today, the clergy, especially in the Northeast, are committed to "defending the rights of our people, together with truth and justice," acting on behalf of locals vis-à-vis the authorities.

Several priests from the dioceses of Jaffna and Mannar were killed or "disappeared" during the civil war, clergymen like Fr Mary Bastian who was killed in church (1985, Mannar); Fr Jim Brown who disappeared without a trace (2006, Jaffna); Fr Nicholaspilai Packiyaranjith who was torn apart by a mine (2007, Mannar); and Fr M.X. Karunaratnam who was killed as was returning to his parish (2008, Mannar).


In addition, the bishop of Mannar said, the Church strives to "work with all ethnic and religious groups in Sri Lanka to overcome tensions and polarisation between different communities. Some of our allies in the area of justice, human rights, and humanitarian work are Sinhalese and non-Christian."

Tourism In Sri Lanka Is Part Of “Stealth Militarisation”; Sri Lanka Campaign Warns Tourists Of Ethical Risks

November 19, 2014

Re-launching their #ThinkAgain Ethical Tourism Campaign today, the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice have claimed that tourism to Sri Lanka is being used as cover for the military’s takeover of civilian life in Sri Lanka. The launch coincides with the conclusion of TBCAsia, an international Travel bloggers conference, which is taking place in Colombo.

The Sri Lanka Campaign’s#ThinkAgain initiative encourages tourists to Sri Lanka to think carefully about the ethical choices involved in their holiday to Sri Lanka – particularly in terms of the risk they face that the money they spend will help line the pockets of allegedwar criminals and help contribute to a worsening of the human rights situation It was today re-launched with new information and advice on how to travel to Sri Lanka and a list of 63 hotels, resorts, and attractions to avoid.

Fred Carver, Campaign Director for the Sri Lanka Campaign, said; ”Sri Lanka has an appalling human rights record and the recently concluded civil war culminated in some of the worst atrocities of the 21st century. For this reason we do not think anyone should make the decision to visit Sri Lanka lightly.

“We are not opposed to people visiting Sri Lanka. Indeed, we think much good can come of such visits and that much harm could result if Sri Lanka is further isolated. Our site will help you understand both the negative and positive impacts of your trip and how, with thought and planning, you can better manage them.

“A large number of hotels and resorts are owned by the Sri Lankan Army. This is part of the Government of Sri Lanka’s attempt to ingrain the military into every aspect of Sri Lankan life, as well as an opportunistic attempt by the armed forces and the regime to profit from their positions of power. In this way the tourism industry in Sri Lanka is being used as a cover for the militarisation of Sri Lanka by stealth. It is important that tourists not contribute to this process.

“Virtually every package tour operator uses businesses from our list of concern; the Government run Sri Lankan Airlines provide the majority of flights, and use Sri Lanka’s inbound agencies which also handle Governmental hotels. Our campaign teaches tourists about the supply chain involved in their holiday, and encourages them to challenge their operators to avoid businesses with links to the regime.”

Let the games begin…

November 20, 2014 

“..And may the odds be ever in your favour”
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
‘At the stroke of the midnight hour’ on 20 November, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who turned 69 years old on Tuesday was tipped to finally rubber-stamp and reveal the world’s worst kept secret. On 19 November 2014, President Rajapaksa completed the mandatory four years in office before he was constitutionally empowered to call snap elections for the presidency. Speculated for months nationally and internationally, prefaced by two months of ‘soft campaigning’ by President Rajapaksa’s re-election team and Opposition squabbling and intrigue, the die shall finally be cast. Soon, Sri Lankans will embark on a brief six-week journey on the road to electing their seventh executive president.

Let the Games Begin… by Thavam Ratna

Historically – A Third Term Means Lifetime!

| by S. V. Kirubahara

“The elections were pointless, as the outcome would be

determined by Mugabe himself”.

—The opposition leader of Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai

( November 19, 2014, Paris, Sri Lanka Guardian) Well known types of ruling systems fall into categories: - democracy, dictatorship, republic, monarchy / kingdom, communist and socialist.

In brief, let’s look at the main features of those ruling systems:

If it is a democratic state, there will be equality before the law, due process of law, constitutional limits on government, equal rights, social economic and political pluralism, sovereignty of the people, freedom of speech, freedom of press, etc. Failed states which conduct manipulated elections, also consider themselves democrats. They talk about elections but not about how they are done.

Historically – a Third Term Means Lifetime! by Thavam Ratna

EPRLF Central Committee-Our Leader and Mentor

ALL INDIA CONGRESS COMMITTE

தோழர் க. பத்மநாபாவின் 63வது பிறந்ததினம்

DELHI
RAJIV GANDHI, M.P
PRESIDENT

I met Thiru K. Pathmanabna in Delhi just a few days before his tragic assassination. It is hardly believable that one so young, so bright, so full of life, with so much to contribute to his people, should no longer be with us. That our Government was unable to provide him protection is a matter of national shame. We extend our sincerest sympathies to his wife and the other members of his family.

Our Sri Lanka policy was designed to ensure the safety and security of the Tamils and the full realisation oy them of their human rights and the full exercise of their political rights within a united Sri Lanka and in all those parts of the island where the Tamil population is predominant. The Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987 opened the doors to this dream becoming a reality. Unfortunately, the doors have been banged shut upon us on account both of mistakes made by the Sri Lanka Government as well as the National Front Government in India.

Thiru Pathmanabha shared a birthday with my mother. Both fell martyrs to a great cause. I pay my tribute to his .memory.

EPRLF Central Committee-Our Leader and Mentor

The Political Philosophy And Praxis Of K. Pathmanabha

By Dayan Jayatilleka -November 19, 2014

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

EPRLF Leader K. Pathmanaba’s 63rd  birthday is today

Comrade Pathmanabha was first of all a revolutionary, a Marxist-Leninist, a national liberationist and a humanitarian socialist. If we were to forget his characteristics we would then also forget his contribution. Pathmanabha was not just another leader of the Tamil national movement cut down by theLTTE. He was more, and this we should always remember.

Ossie, Chandrika, Vijaya,Pathmanaba and Kethish

Comrade Pathmanabha political career goes back to the first years of the decade of 1970’s. He participated in the activities of the rising Tamil student and youth fronts, in protest against the racist policies implemented by the United Front Government of the day. It is this Government, consisting of so called progressives and left parties, that reinforced the foundation of the Tamil Eelam demand, the cornerstone of which was laid by the Bandaranaike policy of Sinhala Only in 1956. Comrade Pathmanabha participated in the early 70’s in the campaigns of agitation launched against media wise and district wise standardisation and discriminatory 1972 Constitution.
                                  Read More

How to Transform the Presidential Elections a ‘Referendum’ on Rajapaksa

by Vishwamithra 1984-19/11/2014

“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.” ~Margaret Mead

Allow me to say it at the very outset: No campaign run by a group of elite-strategists, cloaked in suits and ‘Satakayas’, cooped up in air-conditioned rooms in Colombo and smoking cigars and sipping cognac and wine will help the Opposition to win the forthcoming Presidential Elections. They need to make this look not only like a ‘people’s campaign’, they ought to decentralize the campaign to such an incredible extent, each and every voter must feel that he or she is directing this campaign.

How to Transform the Presidential Elections a ‘Referendum’ on Rajapaksa by Thavam Ratna

Moves to abolish executive presidency;  Muslim groups join nationalist forces

By Latheef Farook-November 19, 2014

Numerous Muslim political and civil society groups have joined mainstream national political forces in their campaign to abolish or reform the dictatorial executive presidency, replace it with a presidency accountable to parliament and reintroduce democracy.
Moves to Abolish Executive Presidency  Muslim Groups Join Nationalist Forces by Thavam Ratna

Using Universities For Political Goals, How Dare You Speak Of Principles!

By E. Saravanapavan -November 19, 2014 

E. Saravanapavan MP

I rise to commend His Excellency the President on the commitment to Higher Education enunciated in this budget. In principle, the government is on the right track. New faculties are in the offing – an Engineering and Technology Faculty at Jayawardanapura University, an Information Technology Center at Kelaniya University, an Advanced Medical Faculty at Peradeniya University, and Electronics, Petroleum and Aeronautical Engineering Faculties at  Moratuwa University.

A hostel construction program for 25,000 students will be embarked upon on an accelerated basis. The Mahapola Scholarship monthly allowance will be increased to Rs. 4,000 per student from January thereby making higher education a reality for poor children. Incentive payments for academic and non-academic staff will be initiated. Minister SB Dissanayake has promised us in The Sunday Times of Sept. 28, 2014 that university intake will be increased from this year’s 25,000 students to Rs. 35,000 next year.

I am happy. I congratulate this government for this commitment to higher education because, as experts have it, unless 8% of the 18 to 22 year age cohort of the population is actively engaged in higher education programmes of study, there is no chance of a country reaching its development goals. To give perspective, successful economies like Malaysia’s have reached this goal while we are said to hover around 2%, far short of the 8% target expressed in the UGC’s Five Year Plan document. This is why I see the expansion of the higher education sector as progressive. If we need the private sector to reach this 8% target, we must all welcome that.

Read More

To What Extent Does Money & Perks Play In The Decisions Of Politicians?

| by Shenali D Waduge

( November 19, 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A country is governed by a government. That government is chosen by the people. People chose the representatives based on various factors and that generally rotates from personal advantage to considering the national needs and in particular the national security dimension. Unlike other developing nations, Sri Lanka’s literacy being over 90% the people are well read about the mechanisations at play and are well informed about the faultlines of global politics. Nevertheless, the wicked factor that taps into and turns even noble politicians into victims are their own weaknesses of character and falling prey to handouts offered in dollars and pounds. The question that needs to be answered is how far does money play in the political decisions that politicians take.

With the current political impasse it is necessary to ponder to whether decisions taken by parties and politicians have the element of money playing not only a key role but the sole role that is today attempting to create dissent and division without regime change per se.

From past encounters and revelations we know that politicians can be bought over for a minimum of 5m, a car permit and a house. If foreign players are involved the price tag is likely to be a green card, scholarships for children, family relocation to foreign climes, a house etc. Having taken these perks these same people come on stage and speak of ‘integrity’ and against ‘corruption’ and ignorant voters end up voting for them too!

It is unfortunate that national policies, national needs and national objectives have been replaced with politicians entering politics only to enjoy perks of office and then when their desires are in excess of what they can enjoy under the current conditions they become gullible to other sharks willing to offer more and that entices them onto a platform that ends up parroting accusations against those under whom they enjoyed perks of office.

Let it not be said enough that politicians have few morals or ethics today and are unfit to appear before us and talk of integrity having fallen prey to a system that they cannot change and in so trying to change they are likely to be thrown out. Thus, politics has become a malady for the global community for global politicians have made the world worse than the world would have been without their decision making. Some of their actions have caused entire nations to fall to pieces with generations likely to suffer as a result of the damage they have caused to the environment.

Returning to the Sri Lankan scenario it is good for the people to ponder as to what makes politicians tick and become hyperactive proponents of demands close to elections which never became issues before. If money is playing a role in that change of character it is for the voters to decide to discard them and not fall prey to antics that are out to divide voters, divide votes and lead the country to disintegration wherein lack of a majority leader will lead to anarchy and is just what the protagonists looking to destabalize Sri Lanka are manipulating throwing goodbags that weak politicians succumb to.

The voters need to gather and decide their choice based on what the need of the country is and that thought must remain foremost on people’s mind as well as considering the pluses and minuses of voting for people who have a bleak history of governance, who have no history of governance and those who are susceptible to becoming ‘yes men/women’ for those hoping to manipulate Sri Lanka from foreign climes.

It is good for the people to now itself start thinking their choice. What people must take stock of is that after independence in 1948, becoming a republic in 1972 Sri Lanka enjoyed only a handful of years true independence and thereafter the country was faced with internal conflicts, insurgencies ending up with terrorism suffered for 30 years causing colossal deaths, damage to property, generations in debt, war widows, orphaned children, injured and disabled soldiers and civilians and even scores of brainwashed Tamils falling prey to LTTE lies today suffering and being victims themselves. That terror was defeated against much odds and against forces that comprised our own people who merited from the prevalence of terrorism and wished to have its continuity for their own personal gains. Some key people deserve our eternal gratitude alongside long lists of unsung heroes who are both dead and living.

That hard won peace cannot and should not be bargained, compromised or be allowed to be held to ransom by people who in our doubts may have succumbed to money and perks promised for their change in stance. Whatever party they belong to, the people must identify politicians who are vulnerable to handouts and deny them the chance to ruin our country by rejecting them through our vote. The voters have more power than they fathom.

Money can be thrown and politicians can be bought but it is the voters that eventually decide and that makes the voter the key differentiator and the kingpin.