Nobel laureate summit cancelled over Dalai Lama visa refusal

A Cape Town summit of Nobel peace laureates has been cancelled after too many delegates pulled out over South Africa denying the Dalai Lama a visa.

01 OCT 2014 15:56 STAFF REPORTER

The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Cape Town has been cancelled, according to reports.

The move came after more laureates pulled out of the event to protest against the South African government’s refusal to grant the Dalai Lama a visa to enter the country.

Sources on Wednesday confirmed to the Cape Argus that the event, which was scheduled to be held in Cape Town from October 13 to 15, would no longer go ahead.

Friends of Tibet tweeted that the event had been cancelled “owing to denial of visa by host country” to the Dalai Lama.

The Hindustan Times reported that a new venue would be announced on Thursday. According to the report, the summit was meant to have been held in Costa Rica eight years ago, but was cancelled when the Chinese government put pressure on that government not to grant the Dalai Lama a visa.

“The venue of the summit has been shifted out of South Africa,” US Nobel peace laureate Jody Williams told reporters, according to the News Minute.

The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India and is at loggerheads with China over Tibet, had been hoping to join the conference in Cape Town on October 13.

This is the third time South Africa has refused the Dalai Lama a visa in the past five years, according to his representative, and has intensified speculation about China’s influence in the country.

Enter the Chameleon

It’s not the conjuring tricks, which the chameleon performs in front of a be-dazzled audience that we should worry about.  Those are mostly lies and fabrications wrapped in a flimsy attempt at demonizing the other and claiming the high moral ground.  

Jafar M Ramini Global News Centre

(LONDON) The stage is set, the venue is the UN General Assembly, New York and the audience is in place, awaiting the appearance of the star performer, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel.
Enter the Chameleon by Thavam

Who runs the militant group Islamic State?

A man purported to be the reclusive leader of the militant Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has made what would be his first public appearance at a mosque in the centre of Iraq's second city, Mosul, according to a video recording posted on the Internet on July 5, 2014, in this still image taken from video.

BEIRUT Fri Oct 3, 2014

(Reuters) - Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim militant group, has seized a third of Syria and large areas of Iraq and this year proclaimed a caliphate across the two countries in the heart of the Middle East.

The group, which U.S-led forces are bombing in Iraq and Syria, is made up of thousands of fighters from both countries as well as foreign recruits from around the world. Its leadership draws from militants with combat experience in Iraq.

Here are some of the group's main figures:

ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI, LEADER

Born in 1971, Baghdadi comes from an Iraqi family of preachers and Arabic teachers, according to a biography distributed on militant forums that says he studied at the Islamic University in Baghdad.

According to U.S. media reports, Baghdadi was detained for several years at Camp Bucca, a U.S-run prison in southern Iraq, before becoming head of the militant group Islamic State of Iraq in 2010, a predecessor to Islamic State, which expanded into Syria in 2013.

In June this year the growing group named Baghdadi as "caliph for the Muslims everywhere," and called on all to pledge allegiance to him. Although he is rarely pictured, a video released in July claimed to show him preaching in a mosque in Iraq's Mosul city, dressed in a black robe and turban.

He has proved ruthless in eliminating opponents and showed no hesitation in turning against former allies: He launched a war against al Qaeda's Syria wing Nusra Front, leading to a split with al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, earlier this year.

A recent pamphlet released by Islamic State traced Baghdadi's purported lineage to the Prophet Mohammad and listed his military achievements. The United States is offering $10 million for information leading to the location, arrest, or conviction of Baghdadi, whose real name is Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarai.

ABU MOHAMMAD AL-ADNANI, OFFICIAL SPOKESMAN

Born in 1977 in Idlib, Syria, Adnani has delivered Islamic State's main messages, including its declaration of a caliphate, which was distributed in five languages.

The United States designated him a "global terrorist" this year and says he was one of the first foreign fighters to oppose U.S-led coalition forces in Iraq since 2003 before becoming spokesman of the militant group.

A biography posted on militant websites says the man, whose real name is Taha Subhi Falaha, grew up with a "love of mosques" and was a prolific reader.

ABU MUSLIM AL-TURKMANI, SENIOR COMMANDER IN IRAQ

A former general under Saddam Hussein, he is believed to have taken charge of provinces captured by Islamic State in Iraq. In the Iraqi military under Hussein he served in military intelligence and the republican guard.

His real name is said to be Fadel Ahmad Abdullah al-Hiyali and he was also imprisoned at Camp Bucca in Iraq. Former Saddam Hussein Baathists in Iraq have joined forces with Islamic State to fight the Shi'ite-led Baghdad government.

ABU OMAR AL-SHISHANI, SENIOR COMMANDER IN SYRIA

Born in Georgia in 1986, Shishani "the Chechen" has been described as Islamic State's military commander in Syria and led an offensive to capture a large area of land up to the Iraqi border.

His real name is Tarkhan Batirhvili, and he joined fighters battling the Syrian army in 2012 and swore allegiance to Baghdadi. Rebels and Kurdish forces say he is leading Islamic State's main strike force and has headed a recent offensive to capture a Kurdish town close to the Turkish border.

Shishani, who sports a striking ginger beard, is frequently shown on the battlefield, and has been pictured receiving military vehicles seized in Iraq and brought into Syria.

Sources: Reuters, U.S. Department of State, militant websites

(Compiled by Ali Abdelaty in Cairo and Beirut bureau; Editing by Sophie Walker)

David Cameron makes surprise visit to Kabul, pledges British support

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron left and Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, hold a press conference, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Oct. 3, 2014. Cameron on Friday pledged support for Afghanistan’s newly sworn-in president and the country’s new unity government, saying during a surprise visit to Kabul that Britain is committed to helping Afghans build a more secure and prosperous future. (Dan Kitwood, Pool/Associated Press)

By Associated Press October 3 at 8:34 AM
KABUL, Afghanistan — Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday pledged support for Afghanistan’s newly sworn-in president and the country’s new unity government, saying during a surprise visit to Kabul that Britain is committed to helping Afghans build a more secure and prosperous future.
David Cameron makes surprise visit to Kabul, pledges British support.odt by Thavam

Violent clashes break out in Hong Kong after counter-protesters storm sit-in

About 1,000 people opposed to pro-democracy movement fight 100 demonstrators after Leung Chun-ying’s talks offer

Clashes in Mong Kok. Video: Tania Branigan

Tania Branigan in Hong Kong and Jonathan Kaiman in Beijing-Friday 3 October 2014 

Violent scuffles broke out in one of Hong Kong’s most famous and congested shopping districts on Friday, as supporters of Chinese rule stormed tents and ripped down banners belonging to pro-democracy protesters.

Pro-democracy protesters clash with pro-government supporters on Friday at Causeway Bay

Violent Clashes Break Out in Hong Kong After Counter-protesters Storm Sit-In by Thavam

Women and Children for Sale

A new U.N. report paints a terrifying picture of life under the Islamic State.

• BY COLUM LYNCH-OCTOBER 2, 2014

In arly August, fighters from the Islamic State swept into the small Yazidi village of Maturat in Iraq's Sinjar district and took women to the Badush prison in Mosul. Hundreds more women and girls were herded into an ancient citadel in the town of Tal Afar in the northern province of Nineveh. From Tal Afar, a group of 150 unmarried girls and women, mostly from Christian or Yazidi families, were selected and reportedly sent to Syria "either to be given to ISIL fighters as a reward or to be sold as sex slaves," according to a report released on Thursday, Oct. 2, by the United Nations' human rights office in Iraq.
Women and Children for Sale by Thavam

Rights group slams Burma plan to ‘segregate Rohingya’

A Rohingya girl who was displaced following 2012 sectarian violence carries a baby at Nga Chaung Refugee Camp in Pauktaw, Rakhine state, Burma. Pic: AP.

By Kyle Lawrence Mullin Oct 03, 2014

Critics say the Burmese government’s  “Rakhine State Action Plan”, will further marginalize its Muslim population, forcing members of the minority to adopt a new ethnicity and permanently segregating them to closed camps.

In a statement released today by Human Rights Watch (HRW), the activist NGO said: “A draft government plan would entrench discriminatory policies that deprive Rohingya Muslims in Burma (officially known as Myanmar) of citizenship and lead to the forced resettlement of over 130,000 displaced Rohingya.”

The NGO also took umbrage with the government plan’s phrasing, noting that it’s plan referred to Burmese Rohingya Muslims as “Bengalis”. HRW’s statement went on to call that term “inaccurate and  derogatory,” adding that the moniker is “commonly used by Burmese officials and nationalist Buddhists. Muslims are only mentioned in the plan with reference to religious schools.”

Earlier in the week, The World Bulletin reported on another aspect of the action plan. It quoted Burmese foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin’s announcement to the UN that the plan would grant the Rohingya citizenship, but only if they “change their ethnicity to suggest Bangladeshi origin”. The story added that the government could use such admissions to detain Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and even place them in detention camps- even though the Muslim minority has resided in Burma for centuries.

The “Rakhine State Action Plan” is based on recommendations made last spring by the state’s Investigative Commission. That government body was formed to quell civil unrest between the Rohingya Muslims and Burma’s Buddhist majority, a conflict that climaxed in the summer of 2012 when the former endured violence by the latter that claimed over 50 lives.

Since then, over 100,000 of the surviving Rohingya have fled to government camps in the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe. But several human rights groups say those facilities are anything but safe havens, calling their health and safety standards dangerously subpar and criticizing policies that keep the displaced Muslims from relocating to other locales. Activists say the “Rakhine State Action Plan” will worsen the predicament, noting that it aims to relocate the Rohingya once again, from the Sittwe camps to a location that has yet to be disclosed.

Phil Robertson, HRW’s deputy Asia director, wrote in a press release that the plan: “… expands and solidifies the discriminatory and abusive Burmese government policies… It is nothing less than a blueprint for permanent segregation and statelessness that appears designed to strip the Rohingya of hope and force them to flee the country.”

HRW’s statement listed alternatives such as granting the Rohingya permission to return to their original homes, noting that the state action plan makes no mention of when or how the displaced Muslims will be able to reintegrate into Burmese society.

Earlier this week Reuters reported on the United Nations’ critique of Burma’s human rights record. During a yearly report to the General Assembly’s Third Committee, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “The deep-seated inter-ethnic and inter-religious tensions that have re-emerged around the country have given rise to further violence, loss of life, displacement of populations and destruction of property.”

The Burmese government has dismissed those claims and demanded that it be removed the annual report to the Third Committee (which also highlights human rights issues in Syria and Iran).

Last week, in an address to the U.N. General Assembly, Burmese foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin said: “All major concerns related to human rights have been addressed to a larger extent in the new Myanmar. Therefore we are now fully convinced that Myanmar should no longer remain on the agendas of the Human Rights Council and the Third Committee of the General Assembly.”

Sri Lanka dismisses asylum seeker abuse claims as 'baseless'

The Sri Lankan Government has dismissed as 'baseless' the findings of an SBS investigation into the mistreatment of failed asylum seekers sent back to the country by Australia.

Some reported being abducted, tortured, raped and abused by the Sri Lankan security forces on their return in a special Dateline investigation by Go Back To Where You Came From presenter Dr David Corlett.

Sri Lanka Dismisses Asylum Seeker Abuse Claims as 'Baseless' by Thavam

Why Sri Lanka's Detention of Mrs Balenderan Jayakumari Is So Sinister

Callum Macrae-Writer and filmmaker-01/10/2014 

Just over 200 days ago the Sri Lankan authorities arrested a Tamil mother, Balenderan Jeyakumari, and her teenage daughter. Mrs Jeyakumari had been campaigning to find out what had happened to her 15-year-old son, Mahindan, who disappeared after apparently being taken prisoner by the Sri Lankan authorities at the end of the war in 2009, accused of membership of the Tamil Tigers.

Why Sri Lanka's Detention of Mrs Balenderan Jayakumari is So Sinister by Thavam

Questions Submitted to Sri Lanka by UN Human Rights Committee

[HRC meets in Geneva at the Palais Wilson]-02/10/2014 
After 11 years Sri Lanka comes before the UN Human Rights Committee on 7/8th of October to defend its HR record. The Human Rights Committee is a body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its State parties. Human Rights Committee after examining the initial reports has prepared a list of issues that the GoSL needs to answer.the review will mostly based on the issues raised in the document.

The full list of issues can be viewed here and the responses of the GoSL can be viewed here.

Questions Submitted to Sri Lanka by UN Human Rights Committee by Thavam

NGOs are heart of human rights work, HC says

1 October 2014

“When we speak of human rights and we think of what are the fundamentals -- what is the heart -- it is clear that you, the NGO community, must be the heart,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.
Zeid said the work being done by many of the civil society actors has shown “astonishing courage,” particularly at a time in history when it seems that the right to exist as a human being is under assault.
“And it is you who make the fundamental difference,” he said. “We [the UN Human Rights Office] will continue to join you and work with you as you do the right thing: To be kind always; to be brave always; to defend essentially that which makes us all human.”
Zeid made his remarks during an NGO meeting taking place during the 27th Human Rights Council. The meeting provided an opportunity for the High Commissioner to meet with more than 260 members of the NGO community for the first time and listen to a number of their comments.
Several participants expressed concern regarding protection of human rights defenders, children’s rights and strengthening civil society engagement with existing human rights mechanisms. He was asked what guarantees he could give to protect defenders against violence.
“I can’t guarantee protection,” Zeid said. “No one can. But we will continue to put up a good fight. It’s like Newtonian physics: the more effective the NGO community is, the more pressure you feel. It goes to show how effective you are.”
Zeid said he wanted to continue the “collective endeavour” that the UN Human Rights Office has embarked on with the NGOs. And although in real terms the number of actual people working on the issues may be small, the impact is mighty, he said.
“The fate of the planet relies on such a small number of people,” he said. “You are a just a small fraction of humanity, and yet you do so much.”

- See more at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/HCMeetsNGOs.aspx#sthash.N8g2ZA3w.dpuf

A Presidency Under Threat: Indulgences Without Principle

By Rajiva Wijesinha -October 1, 2014 

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha MP

When I began this series, over four months ago, the title may have seemed excessive. And even my good friend Dayan Jayatilleka thought I was being unduly pessimistic about the President’s pulling power when I said that the UNP would poll at least 40% in Badulla. But the results there have shown that the threat is even more serious than I had thought.

Over the next few weeks I will explore how the threat might be averted. But I suspect that that will serve no purpose, for Basil Rajapaksa, who may be the only one of the decision makers who reads what I write, would by then have dragooned the President into having an early election. He did this in 2009 when, as the President then put it to me – with a hint of contempt I think for what he deemed the amateur nature of our advice – only Gota and I told him not to have the Presidential election so soon.                         Read More

The Uva Vote: Looking Back And Looking Ahead

By Chamindry Saparamadu -October 2, 2014 

Chamindry Saparamadu

The vote in Uva has raised hopes for many: a possible defeat of Rajapaksaat a future election has built a certain momentum. It has generated discussion, debate, hypotheses and predictions. The electorate seems to have been awakened from a deep slumber. For an ecstatic UNP, it signals a probable opportunity of going alone and winning at the next election: It is possibly the best bargain for the party stalwarts. For the groups working tirelessly towards an opposition coalition, a common programme has now become a hard sell to the UNP as much convincing is needed more now than before. The regime, meanwhile, finds itself in a catch 22 situation: a choice between early polls or living its full term until 2016. A careful consideration of options is vital at this point.

A realistic assessment of the Uva result is called for in order to make any predictions regarding the outcome of a future election. What explains the Uva result?

Needless to say that joining of two factions within the UNP had a tremendous impact on the election campaign. Sajith Premadasa’s re-entry into the electoral fray definitively stirred the complacent UNP constituency. The regime’s waning popularity as a consequence of the rising cost of living seems to clearly have influenced the vote. However, one could hardly ignore the overwhelming appeal the young and charismatic UNP’s chief ministerial candidate Harin Fernando had on the constituency. Essentially, an electorate swayed by charismatic leadership was captivated by Harin through his well designed electoral campaign.  Without a doubt, Harin had been able to attract the anti-government sentiment that was expressed as a protest vote for the JVP and the DNA in the Southern and Western provincial council elections in March this year. This explains the decline in the vote for the JVP and the DNA in Uva. The singular focus of a united UNP effort had a crystallizing effect on the campaign.  Whilst the UNP collectively focused its full thrust on Uva campaign, the UPFA campaign seems to have been weakened by internal divisions. Post-Uva murmurs tell us that SLFP heavyweights wilfully abstained from putting their strength behind the campaign ofShashindra Rajapksa. A formidable electoral victory for Sashindra, in their view, would have been a reaffirmation of the electoral indispensability of the Rajapaksa family, which is hardly a victory for the SLFP at this point.

                                                                                 Read More