The race to replace Abbas: Jordan, Egypt push Palestinian succession plans 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waves at Palestinian Museum opening in Birzeit last month (AFP) 

Jebrel Rjoub and Mohammed Dahlan in Ramallah in 2005 (AFP)

Mohammed Ibrahim-Friday 3 June 2016

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Jordan and Egypt have been contacting Fatah officials to begin planning for the era that will follow the leadership of current Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Middle East Eye can confirm.

Confirmation from Palestinian and diplomatic sources comes after MEE revealed the existence of a plan by Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt that would see Abbas’s Fatah archrival Mohammed Dahlan oust him.

The sources also say the exiled Fatah leader has been moving from one Arab capital to another, talking to officials, reaching out to Fatah activists and leaders with one mission: preparing the stage for the post-Abbas era.

Dahlan has been working on this mission for a long time, but has recently increased and broadened his connections, taking advantage of local and regional politicians who are concerned that, at 82, Abbas could die at any moment.

In his wake, sources say they fear he could leave behind a Palestinian Authority in disarray.

Egyptian and Jordanian officials have been in touch with PA and Fatah officials, including the party’s Central Committee members, to discuss succession plans, the sources said.

The officials are not only concerned about Abbas’s age, but are also unhappy with some of his political positions, the sources said.

Egypt is unhappy that Abbas rejected an attempt last November by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to reconcile the Palestinian president with Dahlan. Jordan is frustrated more generally that Abbas has not consulted the kingdom more closely.

Palestinian officials, even those close to Abbas, are talking with the Jordanians and Egyptians largely out of political necessity, particularly in the case of Jordan, the country through which the leadership transits to the outside world.

A senior Fatah official said: “We understand the Jordanian and Egyptian approach. They are concerned that Fatah leaders might not agree on a successor to President Abbas and fight each other over power.”

“Jordan, in particular, is very concerned that the West Bank might fall into chaos if a succession battle erupts between the rivals and then the PA could collapse and people might move to the kingdom.”

He added: “And it is no secret that Jordan and Egypt would like to see a Palestinian president that can fit with their policies.”

Movement within a movement

Abbas is the last founding member of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation in power. He spends much of his time travelling and has focused largely on foreign policy and efforts for Palestinian statehood to be recognised.

His successor is expected to turn his attention to pressing domestic issues, including the weak Palestinian economy, tensions between Gaza and the West Bank, the lack of a functioning parliament and regular elections and corruption, among many others.

Jordan and Egypt have cool relationships with Abbas. Jordan has complained that Abbas is not briefing them about his steps and, in many cases, hasn’t listened to their advice, particularly on the resumption of peace talks with Israel and in his pushing for resolutions at the UN. 

In recent years, Dahlan has appeared as a strong player for the post-Abbas era. He enjoys strong financial support from the United Arab Emirates, particularly from the Sheikh Zayed charity fund.

Dahlan uses the money to support Fatah activists and their circles in refugee camps in Lebanon, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jordan, a traditional Fatah way of gaining political support.

Generous Emirati financial support has also enabled Dahlan to form his own movement within Fatah, which has a similar hierarchy to the political party, Dahlan’s aides told MEE.

“We have a Central Committee, Revolutionary Council and branches,” one aide said.

“We hold regular meetings for the different levels and have activities and budgets, and this enables us to have an influential role within Fatah.”

“We are not going to split [from Fatah] in any condition, but we found out that the best way to have influence in Fatah is to be systematic and organised,” he added.

Power positioning 

The rise of Dahlan has concerned many circles within Fatah, particularly those around Abbas and another Dahlan rival, Jebrel Rjoub, who says he will never let his enemy return to the party.

In private conversations with friends, Rjoub says Dahlan has been fired from Fatah and the only way for him to return to Palestinian politics is to form a new political movement.

But others say Rjoub will be pressed to change his mind the moment Abbas is out of power.

“The day after Abbas, Rjoub will receive phone calls from Egypt and Jordan and they will ask him to open a new page with his brother Dahlan,” a Fatah official said.

He added: “The same will happen with the security leader Majid Faraj and Azzam al-Ahmad and the rest of the prominent players in Fatah.”

Rjoub and Dahlan, who are both Fatah Central Committee members and seemingly the strongest leaders in the party, know that neither of them are likely to become the next Palestinian president initially, but will instead try to win the loyalty of the transitional leader.

In private discussions, Dahlan says if Abbas goes, he [Dahlan] would nominate Ahmed Qureau, the oldest Fatah leader in the PLO, who served as prime minister under Yasser Arafat, to be the successor.

A Dahlan aide said: “Qureau is not the perfect candidate for them, but the situation is not perfect either.”

Observers, however, say Qureau’s health is no better than Abbas’s.

Perhaps the strongest potential post-Abbas contender whose name has been floated recently is Nasser al-Qidweh, nephew of the late Palestinian leader, Arafat.

Qidweh stands in the firm middle ground. He was against firing Dahlan, maintains good ties with Rjoub and would be accepted by all rivals in the Fatah camp.

Sources told MEE that Egypt and Jordan think Qidweh is likely to be the winner in the succession race and is the initial leader, leaving Rjoub and Dahlan to battle for his support.

Palestinians sources in touch with the officials in the neighbouring countries say they know it would be hard to market Dahlan at this stage, suggesting that Qidweh may be a transitional president.

The only problem Qidweh would face in the succession process is competition from Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, who has been in prison in Israel since 2004.

For years, Barghouti’s inner circle have maintained that he will run for the presidency in any future elections, regardless of the Fatah Central Committee's position, and regardless of whether he stays behind bars.

Those close to him say Barghouti has the right to run for the presidency because he enjoys the highest popularity among Palestinians in any public survey and is the only party leader who could win future elections.

Marwan – whose aides said he would run the PA from behind bars by appointing a series of deputies - has also said he believes that his election is the only way to maintain international pressure on Israel to release him from jail.

But observers say the PA is not going to have elections when Abbas leaves power. Instead, they expect Fatah leaders to freeze the elections on the pretext of the split between the West Bank, which is ruled by Fatah, and Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Abbas recently formed a constitutional court that many legal experts say may be an attempt to put a stop to elections after he leaves power.

In place of an election, the court could refer the PA to the PLO to install its president and deputies, if Abbas were to go at a time when free elections are not possible, legal experts say.

The court could argue, for example, that elections were impossible if Fatah and Hamas had not yet been reconciled or if elections could not be conducted in East Jerusalem, which are both currently the case.

The Korean Peninsula Conflict: A Way Out

By Prof. Johan Galtung-June 01, 2016

Like the Israel-Palestine conflict, the world has gotten tired of it, “what, the two Koreas still unable to sort it out”?  Also, like Israel-Palestine, the USA is in it; making the situation complicated.

Never has the situation been so tense after the end of the war in Korea more than 60 years ago.  Not only because of the nuclear bomb with missiles in North Korea, and the hawkish pro-nuke reaction in South Korea and Japan, but because of no moves forward to solve the underlying conflict.  And where is that conflict?  Not between North and South Korea, but between North Korea and USA that after 140+ years of victorious warfare had to accept armistice, not victory, in Korea.

Conflict means incompatible goals. Travel to Pyongyang and find that their goals are peace treaty, normalization of relations, and a nuclear free Korean Peninsula.  And the US goal is the collapse of the present NK regime; failing that, status quo.  Given the threat of a major war, even nuclear war, that goal is untenable.  Some points.

• Why does NK have nuclear capability? Because NK is threatened by the USA-South Korea alliance in general and their “Team Spirit” in particular to deter conventional, or nuclear attacks; failing that to fight back, and particularly against where the attack might come from: US bases in Okinawa-RyuKyu, and from Japan proper. Militarily trivial.
• AND to have a bargaining chip in any denuclearization that of course has to be monitored; given the US cheating in connection with Austrian neutralization in 1955 focused particularly on that one.
• AND to show that we are not collapsing, we are capable of making nuclear bombs and the missiles to carry them; far from collapsing.
• AND, ominously: as the ultimate response if threatened by collapse. Nuclear suicide?  More likely killing those seen as never listening, never thawing in sunshine, using boycotts and sanctions.

Beat a dog repeatedly and it becomes crazy. NK has been beaten, also by exceptional rain causing slides of clay covering enormous cultivated areas, but mainly by an unholy alliance Seoul-Washington. Seoul even commits fratricide on their brothers and sisters in NK, into death and collapse, because Seoul dislikes their regime.

This situation has made both Koreas absurd societies, detached from reality. In the North a fundamentalist Confucian society with a filial piety through the Kims, assuming that the spirit of Kim Il Sung drifts down to son and grandson as incorporations in one person of the national will; in the South through the Parks, at present running a society that is a carbon copy of Japan down to the smallest details on the basis of hysterical anti-Japanism, run by US micro-management.

They will both change.  Absurdities are unsustainable.

SK is also a Christian, Methodist-Catholic, country.  But one senses no Love Thy Neighbor and Love Thy Enemy, only much of Seoul sitting in “judgment over living and dead”.  Jointly with USA.

Sanctions are multi-state terrorism, like terrorism and state terrorism hitting the weak, defenseless, and like them backfiring. Idea: “get rid of your leaders and terrorism will stop”. Reality: the victims turn against the killers, not the leaders. One more absurdity.

There is a way out.  Build on the North Korean goals, hold NK to their words. Their regime will, like all regimes, change; even the USA is now heading for basic change.  Design a peace treaty, like with South Korea, normalize diplomatic relations North-South and North-USA; and design a regime for a nuclear free peninsula, destroying or removing weapons monitored by solid UN inspection, also claims of no weapons.

The two instruments for normalization and denuclearization are then exchanged by depositing them in an escrow with a third party–the UN General Assembly, not UNSC, too similar to the Six Parties Talks.

Then: implementation; preferably quick; de Gaulle style.

But that is only the beginning, only remedies for a pathological and very dangerous situation.  Then comes the peace-building, based on cooperation for mutual and equal benefit, equity (not some SK chaebol-재벌 getting cheap labor in NK), and on harmony based on deep empathy with each other, sharing joys and sorrows; not the opposite, like enjoying suffering and imminent collapse because “sanctions are having a bite”.

Of 40 such proposals here are two.

There is the contested maritime zone between the two different maritime border: use it for joint fishing andjoint fish breeding. Share the income 40-40-20; 20 for the ecology and administration.

There is no flight Seoul-Pyongyang: start it both ways. Use it also for the construction workers and personnel for two embassies.

Admittedly, it is unlikely that USA will come to its senses and initiate all of this although not impossible-the absurdity built into the US boycott of Cuba is being remedied after 58 years. For Korea under a Trump or Sanders presidency, but not belligerent Clinton.

South Korea has to do it, by becoming an independent, autonomous country, not micro-managed, on at least this issue.  There is a longer term mechanism: absurdities have limited life expectancy as witnessed by the decline and fall of empires to the UK, Soviet and US empires.

And there is a short term possibility: presidential power in SK accrues to the two term UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, if elected as a candidate for the governing Saenuri party. Watching his choice of words on the Korean issue, he is always emphasizing dialogue. He would know how to handle a UN General Assembly Uniting for Peace, could have dialogue contact with NK; the rest more or less as above.

Could a united Korean nation with two states at peace inspire the other four of the Six, their ten relations all non-peace, some even recently at war?  History moves quickly these days.  If pushed by democratic pressure from below. And pulled by power from above.

Johan Galtung, a professor of peace studies, dr hc mult, is founder of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment and rector of the TRANSCEND Peace University-TPU. He has published 164 books on peace and related issues, of which 41 have been translated into 35 languages, for a total of 135 book translations, including ‘50 Years-100 Peace and Conflict Perspectives,’ published by theTRANSCEND University Press-TUP.

The original source of this article is Transcend Media Services

Copyright © Prof. Johan Galtung, Transcend Media Services, 2016

Syrian army opens new front as Islamic State's many foes attack

Men inspect damage after an airstrike on Aleppo's rebel held al-Hallak neighbourhood, Syria June 2, 2016.

REUTERS/ABDALRHMAN ISMAIL

Men inspect damage after an airstrike on Aleppo's rebel held al-Hallak neighbourhood, Syria June 2, 2016.

REUTERS/ABDALRHMAN ISMAIL

BY TOM PERRY-Fri Jun 3, 2016

The Syrian army backed by Russian air strikes has opened a major new front against Islamic State, the third big assault on the self-proclaimed caliphate this week after Iraqi forces attempted to storm a city and a Syrian militia advanced with U.S. support.

The week's three big offensives are some of the most aggressive campaigns against Islamic State since it declared its aim to rule over all Muslims from parts of Iraq and Syria two years ago. They signal apparent new resolve by the group's disparate foes on a range of fronts.

Heavy Russian air strikes hit Islamic State-held territory in eastern areas of Syria's Hama province, near the boundary of Raqqa province on Friday. Raqqa city, further east, is Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria and, along with Mosul in Iraq, the ultimate goal of those seeking to destroy the group's self-declared caliphate.

The Syrian army had advanced some 20 km (13 miles) and was now near the edge of the provincial boundary, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the war.

Separately, U.S.-backed militias, including a Syrian Kurdish force called the YPG and new Arab allies recruited to fight alongside it, have been pressing a multi-pronged attack against Islamic State in other parts of Raqqa province and neighbouring Aleppo province.

This week, they began a push towards the city of Manbij near the Turkish border, aiming to seize the last 80 km stretch of Turkish-Syrian frontier in Islamic State control and cut off the group's main link to the outside world for manpower and supplies.

The U.S. military said on Friday its allies were advancing against heavy resistance from Islamic State. If successful, the Manbij campaign would free 40,000 civilians from Islamic State control.

The YPG and its Arab allies, who formed the Syria Democratic Forces last year, have proven to be the first force in Syria allied to the United States that has been effective in fighting against Islamic State.

President Barack Obama has authorised several hundred special forces troops to operate in Syria, some of whom are deployed as advisers in the latest advance.

The Kurdish fighters' progress has been limited in the past by Turkey, which considers them enemies. But Ankara has signalled its tacit support for the latest advance, saying it understands that most of the fighters involved will be Arabs, not Kurds.

"RACE FOR RAQQA"

The Syrian army's new offensive was described in a pro-Damascus Lebanese newspaper as part of "the race for Raqqa" - with the government and its Russian allies trying to advance on Islamic State's de facto Syrian capital before it falls to the fighters allied to the Americans.

A Syrian military source played this down. Reports the offensive targeted Raqqa were only "expectations", he said, and both Raqqa and Deir al-Zor, another Islamic State-held city in eastern Syria, were possible targets.

Whatever its ultimate target, the offensive appears to be the biggest Damascus has mounted against Islamic State since it recaptured the city of Palmyra with Russian support earlier this year. In the past, the United States has accused Assad and his Russian backers of ignoring Islamic State to take on other foes.

Islamic State's brutal rule, featuring mass killings, forced conversions and rape, has made it the enemy of all global powers and regional countries. But five years of civil war in Syria, a feeble Iraqi state and global and sectarian rivalries among outside powers have made it impossible to coordinate a single campaign against it.

In Iraq, government troops supported both by U.S.-led coalition air strikes and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia, poured into the southern outskirts of the Islamic State bastion Falluja on Monday. They have since held their positions for four straight days without advancing into the main built-up areas of the city.

Iraq's finance minister acknowledged in an interview that Falluja, where the U.S. military fought the biggest battles of its own 2003-2011 occupation, was a "tough nut to crack". The assault would go slow to protect thousands of civilians still trapped in the city, he said.

Falluja is Islamic State's second-largest bastion in Iraq and closest outpost to Baghdad. But the decision to mount an assault there was not in keeping with the plans of Washington, which would prefer that the Baghdad government focus on recapturing Mosul instead.

Fighting in Falluja risks the army becoming bogged down in territory inhabited by Sunni tribes long hostile to the Shi'ite-led government. However, Shi'ite militia and political parties have pressed Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to attack the city to bring an end to suicide bombings in the capital, an hour's drive away.

In Syria, state media said the army had made territorial gains and inflicted heavy casualties on Islamic State fighters in the Athriya area of eastern Hama province, close to the provincial border with Raqqa.

"There is progress from Athriya on two fronts, but the coming direction is not set," the military source said, adding that it could be either Raqqa or Deir al-Zor, which is on a main route linking Islamic State's Syrian and Iraqi territories.

The army was focused on eastern and northern areas of both Homs and Hama provinces, he said. Hama borders Raqqa province; Homs borders Deir al-Zor.

The Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar said the first aim was to capture the town of Tabqa, site of an air base and major Islamic State arsenal some 50 km (30 miles) west of Raqqa city, and put "a foot in the area without leaving it completely to the Americans' allies".

(Writing by Peter Graff, editing by Larry King)

FIFA: Blatter and Other Top Officials ‘Awarded’ Themselves $80 Million

BY DAVID FRANCIS-JUNE 3, 2016

Just when you think the FIFA scandal, which has exposed tens of millions of dollars in illicit payments to soccer officials around the world, could not get worse, it somehow manages to do so — and in a shocking fashion.

For years, former president Sepp Blatter, former Secretary General Jérôme Valcke, and former Deputy Secretary General Markus Kattner, who also served as FIFA’s chief financial officer, amounted to what lawyers hired by FIFA called’ a “coordinated effort” to line their pockets in the form of bonuses, raises, and other forms of payment. They also rigged FIFA regulations to make sure they were paid, even if they were fired for cause. Over the course of five years, the total amount of illicit money these officials rewarded themselves with totaled more than $80 million, including tens of millions just days after the U.S. Justice Department indicted a host of top FIFA executives on corruption charges last May.

Blatter, Kattner, and Valcke have not yet been indicted, but the the vultures are circling. Swiss authorities have ongoing criminal investigations into possible wrongdoing by Blatter and Valcke. The former FIFA chief’s office in Zurich has been raided, and U.S. authorities have said he is the target of the joint U.S./Swiss inquiry. Just a day before the FIFA findings were made public, Swiss law enforcement raided FIFA’s office again.


All three of the men have been forced out of international soccer. Blatter wasbanned by FIFA last December; he was replaced by Gianni Infantino in a February election. Valcke was fired in January amid corruption accusations. That left Kattner in charged of FIFA’s finances until he was let go in May after breaching his fiduciary duty to football’s global governing body.

The scandal is a setback for Infantino, the former head of the European soccer federation, UEFA. Just three weeks ago, he promised, “The crisis is over.” But Friday’s announcement shows it is far from done.

Investigators from the law firm Quinn Emanuel found Blatter received a bonus of 12 million Swiss francs (about $12 million) — more than four times his annual salary – after the 2014 World Cup. Valcke pocketed a $10 million World Cup bonus for 2014. He was set to get another $11 million award for the 2018 World Cup. For his part, Kattner’s contract was extended through 2023 with extra clauses guaranteeing termination pay and that his legal and restitution claims would be paid if wrongdoing was discovered.

Even in the face of new charges, Blatter, who was president of FIFA for 17years and continues to be dogged by human right abuses, graft, and bribery, stood his ground.

“We look forward to showing FIFA that Mr. Blatter’s compensation payments were proper, fair and in line with the heads of major professional sports leagues around the world.” Richard Cullen, Blatter’s lawyer, said in a statement Friday.

Photo credit: PHILLIPP SCHMIDLI/Getty Images

What that bad jobs report really means

By Matt O'Brien-June 3 at 12:37 PM

There are certain months when you should close your eyes, click your heels together three times, and think to yourself: The jobs report has a margin of error of 100,000 jobs. The jobs report has a margin of error of 100,000 jobs. The jobs report has a margin of error of 100,000 jobs.

This is one of those months. The good news was bad and the bad news was worse, so our only consolation is that this might be a blip. Consider this: The unemployment rate ticked down from 5.0 to 4.7 percent for the rotten reason that there are almost half a million fewer people looking for work; the economy added 38,000 jobs in May when it was expected to add 155,000; it turned out that 59,000 fewer jobs were created in March and April than we had previously thought; and 468,000 more people who wanted full-time jobs could find only part-time work. Ugly all around.

And it doesn't get a lot less so even if you take a longer view of things. Indeed, the economy has gone from adding a three-month average of 282,000 jobs a month at the end of last year to just 116,000 today. That, as you can see below, is the lowest it's been since July 2012.

The little recovery ... that still could?

WAPO.ST/WONKBLOG

So on a scale of 1 to Lehman, how worried should we be? Well, as 538's Ben Casselmanpoints out, that depends on which of the three stories behind this apparent slowdown is the correct one. Here they are in ascending order of badness.

1. This is just statistical noise. First off, the Verizon strike subtracted 35,000 jobs from the official numbers that haven't actually been subtracted from the economy. So the 38,000 jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics says we added was really something like 73,000. And second, as we already mentioned, there's always a margin of error of 100,000 jobs with these reports. That means there's a real chance the economy didn't slow down quite as much as it appears to have. It might have added around 90,000 or 100,000 jobs instead.

But even if this were true, we shouldn't exactly be bringing out the bubbly. After all, we'd still only be adding half as many jobs as we were six months ago. And, again, that's operating under the optimistic assumption that there will indeed be big, positive revisions. A more realistic one, though, is that there won't. Revisions tend to be good when the economy is, and bad when it is too, so it shouldn't be a surprise that they just turned negative when economic growth has been so anemic, nor would it be if they continued to be so.

2. The economy is slowing down since there aren't many people left who still want jobs. It's taken a lot longer than anyone wanted, but the metronomic 180,000 to 200,000 jobs the economy has added almost every month for the past five years might have finally given a job to most of the people who want one. In that case, we would expect the recovery to gear down for the happy reason that, like the little engine that could, it had made it over the mountain to the land of full employment. In other words, we aren't creating as many jobs as before because we don't need to.

But we can poke holes in this story, too. If companies really are running out of unemployed people to hire, then they should be trying to hire away people who already have jobs by offering big raises. The problem there, though, is that wages aren't rising faster than they have been. Not to mention the fact that there are still a lot of people who can find only part-time work and not the full-time jobs they want. That suggests there's plenty of slack left in the labor market.

3. The r-word. It's hard to see where a recession would come from today, but we can't completely rule it out when job growth has slowed so much and the labor force is shrinking. That last part in particular is a big reversal from just a few months ago when it looked like the recovery was starting to suck people in off the sidelines. Maybe it's just that boomers are retiring even more en masse, or maybe it's that our jobs engine is sputtering. We just can't say for sure right now.

The moral of the story, then, is that there is none. Not every blip becomes a bust, but every bust looks like a blip at the beginning. Sometimes the only way to tell the difference is to wait. Just ask the Federal Reserve. It almost certainly won't raise rates in June like it had hoped to, and may not in July either, now that there's so much uncertainty.

Nobody said the truth had to be satisfying.

Matt O'Brien is a reporter for Wonkblog covering economic affairs. He was previously a senior associate editor at The Atlantic.  Follow @ObsoleteDogma

1 year after Truth and Reconciliation report: 'Not seeing change yet'

Independent Senator Murray Sinclair was appointed to the Red Chamber by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March. Sinclair, the former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, released the summary report into the history of Canada's residential school system last June. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

The northern Ontario First Nations reserve of Attawapiskat declared a state of emergency in April after an alarming number of Indigenous youth attempted to commit suicide. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)--Sinclair says he will continue to champion the rights of Indigenous people in the Senate. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

By Susana Mas-Jun 02, 2016

Independent Senator Murray Sinclair has largely remained silent since the Trudeau government appointed him to the Red Chamber last March, but in an interview with CBC News he reflects on the first anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation summary report and opens up about his new role in the days ahead.

Sinclair, who served as the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, documented the heart–wrenching testimony of more than 6,000 Indigenous residential school survivors in a report made public last June. The report included 94 calls to action as a way to redress the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.

• Attawapiskat, Kashechewan to brief Jane Philpott on health, living conditions
• MMIW inquiry should be headed by Indigenous women, report says
• CBC Special Report: Missing and murdered indigenous women
• 22 cases added to CBC's MMIW database

"In reality, I think that there has been progress, and I don't want to take anything away from the fact that there has been movement on a number of fronts that we need to acknowledge — but whether it's adequate or not, that remains to be seen," Sinclair said in a phone interview with CBC News from Parliament Hill on Wednesday.

When Sinclair made public the summary of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Conservative government would not commit to the 94 calls to action, including the launch of an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.

While Prime Minister Stephen Harper's historic 2008 apology to residential school survivors on behalf of the Canadian government was seen for a time as a step forward in relations with First Nations, it was not enough to turn the relationship around.

A rejected Aboriginal Education Act, a controversial Financial Transparency Act, court challenges to major energy projects and rumblings of Idle No More protests were just some of the conflicts threatening to hobble an already fractured relationship ahead of the federal election of Oct. 19.

Indigenous youth frustrated

Canadians elected a majority Liberal government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose campaign of "hope and change" promised to set a new tone in Ottawa.

"No relationship is more important to me and to Canada than the one with Indigenous Peoples​," Trudeau said when he gave his cabinet ministers their marching orders.

But according to Sinclair, Indigenous leaders have reason to be upset with the slow pace of progress.

"We also need to be prepared to acknowledge the frustration and the impatience that the Indigenous community, particularly young Indigenous leaders, have about the march of progress, because they have been waiting for a long time to see change and they're not seeing change yet.

"For me or any other person to suggest that there has been progress would be to suggest that we have achieved change, but we're just on the beginning edge of starting to change things," Sinclair said

Since being sworn into power last November, Trudeau repeated the same apology originally delivered by Harper in the Commons years earlier.

'I think that the message really needs to be that progress needs to be constant.'- Murray Sinclair, independent senator

Kathleen Wynne, the Liberal premier of Ontario, followed suit just last week when she apologized to First Nations, Métis and Inuit people for "generations of abuse" at the hands of the province's school system.

Trudeau also outlined his plan to reset Canada's relationship with Indigenous people, including the first phase of an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women which the government said it would launch this spring.

Even interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose came out in support of an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women less than a month after the federal election.

And while the new Liberal government's first budget earmarked $8.4 billion over the next five years for Indigenous people, Sinclair said all of this is just a start. 

"I cannot say that I am satisfied with the way things are going," Sinclair said, "but in saying that I don't want you to think that I am dissatisfied, or unsatisfied.

"I think that the message really needs to be that progress needs to be constant," the senator told CBC.

Not a partisan appointee

When Sinclair made public the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission last December, he spoke about the effect of the commission's work on his own health. At the time, he vowed to slow down and spend more time with his family.

'When the prime minister and I had a discussion of my accepting my appointment, I made it very clear that I was not going to collaborate with the government... that's what independence means.'- Murray Sinclair, independent senator

"And then the call came and we had to make a decision as a family," he said of his discussion with Trudeau. "They felt it was too important."

His decision to join the scandal-plagued Senate, which for years had been seen as a dumping ground for bagmen and party hacks, was not easy.

Sinclair, who enjoyed a good reputation as former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Manitoba's first Indigenous judge, said he told Trudeau if he accepted the appointment he would act independently of the government's agenda and vote according to his conscience.

"When the prime minister and I had a discussion of my accepting my appointment, I made it very clear that I was not going to collaborate with the government, or the governing party … on how best to meet the government's objectives," Sinclair said. "I said that there will be times when we will be at odds and we need to recognize that that's what independence means."

Sinclair was one of seven new senators appointed as the result of a new selection process established by Trudeau's Liberals in a bid to transform the beleaguered Senate into a more "independent, non-partisan" institution.

"The need for Senate reform and to change the way the Senate functions — to make it not only more functional but also to make it more credible to the Canadian public — is a real challenge," he said.

"I know that there are many people, among my circle of contacts, who questioned my sanity in coming to work in a place that had a whole different set of problems," Sinclair said as he let out a laugh.

Championing Indigenous rights 

Sinclair said he'll have more to say about the "real connection" between the work he did as the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and his current role as an independent senator in the months to come.

"I think Senate reform and the reform of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people can go hand in hand."

"If there had been a voice of not only reason but experience in the Senate to draw attention to the fact that certain legislation … had a negative impact upon a significant minority group in society such as Indigenous people, then maybe things would have been different," he said.

Sinclair said that working as an independent senator is an opportunity for him to continue the work he began at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"I felt that this was an opportunity for me to engage in a process to implement the calls to action."

"By the fall time, I expect to have a plan in place that will allow me to remind Canadians and legislators, both in the House and in the Senate, constantly about areas of need that we have to keep in mind as we go forward … and how things will impact the Indigenous community no matter what the legislation is," Sinclair told the CBC.

Asked if had any advice for non-Indigenous Canadians, Sinclair said: "Read the calls to action, understand them as much as you can, select one and see what you can do to make that call to action work."

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Thailand: Over 10 million children in nation’s workforce, 85,000 in high-risk jobs

(File photo) Eae Hpaw, 16, center, an undocumented child worker, sits with children and teenagers to be registered by officials during a raid on a shrimp shed in Samut Sakhon, Thailand. Pic: AP

3rd June 2016 

A SURVEY carried out by Thailand’s National Statistics Office shows there were more than 10 million children in the Southeast Asian nation’s workforce last year, with more than 85,000 working in hazardous conditions.

Many of the children in the workforce were asked to leave school to help support their families, according to the Bangkok Post,

Pannee Sriyudhsak, who heads the Ministry’s Labor Protection and Welfare department,  said 10,876,275 children aged between 5 and 17 were in employment.

The survey found that 65,601 children aged 15 to 17 were working in dangerous conditions. A further 14,093 aged between 13 and 14, and 6,112 between 5 and 12 were also found to be working in high-risk jobs.

Pannee said 692,819 children between the ages of 15 and 17 were employed in safe environments, but worked more than 48 hours a week. Half of them worked in the agriculture sector, while 19 percent were in trade and another 12 percent in restaurants.

SEE ALSO: HRW: Migrant children in Thailand ‘suffer in filthy, overcrowded cells’ 

While the figures showed high numbers of child workers when compared to other countries in the region, a recent report by the US labor department said Thailand made a significant advances in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in 2014.

This came after the government made changes to its legal framework to raise the minimum age for agricultural work from 13 to 15 years, and for work on sea fishing vessels from 16 to 18 years.

“However, children in Thailand continue to engage in child labor in agriculture, including in the shrimp and seafood processing sector, and in the worst forms of child labor, including in commercial sexual exploitation,” the US labor department said.

It added that Thailand remains weak in its enforcement efforts, particularly in the fishing, agriculture, manufacturing, and home-based business sectors, as well as in the informal sector.

Smoking – The Sunset Industry

by Victor Cherubim

( June 3, 2016, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) For 50 long years after the brand “Marlboro Man” was banned in Britain, laws are being slapped in Sri Lanka and in Britain, to curtail smoking. When it comes to fashion or the new model of German autos, Sri Lankans are the first to show affluence, but when it comes to waist lines, bellies, flatulence or smoking, nobody cares. It is a penchant to show off their chubby cheeks and excess weight – a symbol of wealth and status.

It was not until President Sirisena, perhaps a non smoker came to the “throne” that he took cudgels with the industry and tried all means to curb this habit. Small wonder former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, also a non smoker, hardly had time to think of the malaise which was causing so many early deaths among the young.

Banning Smoking v Curtailing Packaging of “Death”

It was of course well known in Britain, the “No Smoking” ban in public places for many years, but it was only after the High Court ruling last week that all cigarettes sold in Britain will now be in drab packages with brand name in white, with the usual Health Advice clearly displayed on each packet.

The Big Boys of the Cigarette Industry – I dare not mention by name – have all challenged the legal instruction, but to no avail as the Courts have overruled.

Banning smoking as a serious hazard to wellbeing, let alone health, has had it consequences, it has driven habitual smokers to smoke outside, public transport, bus stops, underground stations, outside pubs, restaurants and cafes. They have gone outside on pavements, on public roads, inside private cars to have the usual – pull and puff, for “full” satisfaction. How can anyone ban death by smoking? It is one of the essential features of a democracy isn’t it?

Curtailing packaging is yet another matter. Packets of cigarettes lure the young and the old, but some say, especially for young women.  The attraction is to be seen among peers as “with it,” rather than “without it.” Besides, packaging is essential to the industry’s identity.

How will the industry now compete?

Marketing is a great tool in this industry. I loved the adverts when I was young lad and collected “Cigarette brand Silks” and Cigarette Cards, many moons ago. These adverts, many of the oldies will recognise, are worth a fortune today at auction. Some may even recognise, “Have a Cigarette, Have a Camel.”

We all know that the industry’s firms, the BATS, Imperial Tobacco, Phillip Morris, among others are not going to disappear. They already have plans to compete against all odds.

There are 35 billion cigarettes manufactured in Britain alone. What about China and the rest of the world?

As I said in my title, that smoking is a sunset industry, it does not mean the manufacturers have put their shutters up. Look at the share price of these firms and you will note smoking is still a thriving business. Why?

The competition is on price?  

Will higher prices stop people from smoking? Some say it may, others say it will create a niche as status symbol. Still others say what about the existing stocks on shop shelves. How can you shift the old labels off your shelves, other than on price?

What other ploys are there?

We all have heard about pipe smoking. Instead of pipes and tobacco, there are the now famous “E” cigarettes, which is becoming popular. “Vapes” as they are called is in vogue among the very young. The unknown message is that the draw is as dangerous as the varieties of cigarettes. Some will of course, maintain there is no proof of danger to health, but who knows?

Can Sri Lanka do anything to get off the trail?

We need to enforce smoking restrictions for the health of future generations. We need to find ways of inducements to give up smoking. Many of you already have heard of “smoke plasters”. Others have voluntarily given up smoking. Still others are in contemplation.

There is no point in looking at the past and wasting the present. We need to look towards the future, of ourselves, our children and see if we can beat the habit by saving money on smoking.

Written Statement to the Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka

JUNE 1, 2016


This written statement to the 32nd session of the UN Human Rights Council concerns truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence to victims of human rights violations and other crimes under international in Sri Lanka.

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Asa3741462016english.pdf-Written Statement to the Human Rights Council on Sri Lanka by Thavam Ratna