What are the Millennium Development Goals?
Well to describe in a very simple form ; these are the most broadly supported development goals for which the whole world has come together to accomplish. They can prove to be the most strongest tool in the war against some very big issues that are hitting the world all together. Basic target are income poverty, hunger, maternal and child mortality, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality, environmental degradation and the Global Partnership for Development.
Let's learn it here -
Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
We all can do a bit to accomplish these goals by making people aware about the importance of the MDG's and to start work upon these goals through proper campaigning and knowledge seminars.
If any one of you gets inspired by this and would like to connect to this journey , please feel free to contact me at - divs68@hotmail.com
APYN Youth Campaign Team
INDIA
Friday, August 13, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Myanmar elections will test ASEAN’s credibility
Amnesty International India
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Press Release - Courtesy : Amnesty International
Southeast Asian nations should press the Myanmar government to protect the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association throughout the elections period and beyond, Amnesty International said today on the eve of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Ha Noi.
ASEAN has repeatedly emphasized that the elections should be held in a “free, fair and inclusive manner”. Yet those calls do not go far enough to highlight the human rights that are most at risk in the elections context. Indeed, the Myanmar government has not taken any steps to improve its poor human rights record as the polls approach.
More than 2,200 political prisoners continue to languish behind bars in Myanmar. This is double the number since the start of the mass peaceful anti-government protests of August – September 2007—a huge indictment of the grim human rights situation there.
Under Electoral Laws enacted in March, no political prisoner can take part in the elections, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The same laws also prohibit them from membership in any political party.
ASEAN should unequivocally call for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience at the Ministerial Meeting, something they conspicuously failed to do at the organisation’s summit in Ha Noi in April.
The Electoral Laws also list a number of offences and penalties, among them—a blatant violation of freedom of expression—a vaguely worded provision against "exhorting" persons to vote or not to vote in the elections.
Moreover, in a 21 June directive issued by the Union Election Commission, political parties are prohibited from campaigning activities that “harm security, the rule of law and community peace”. These regulations allow for an excessively broad interpretation of what constitutes a threat to “security”. For decades the authorities have routinely used vaguely worded laws to arbitrarily criminalize peaceful political dissent.
New censorship rules introduced in June also serve to undermine any remaining scope for independent journalism around the elections process.
The “three freedoms”—of expression, peaceful assembly, and association—must be safeguarded for all, whether people choose to participate in the elections or not. It is not enough for ASEAN to adopt a “wait and see” attitude.
ASEAN states must also be prepared to speak out forcefully if individuals are harassed and detained for their peaceful political views and activities in the run-up to the elections.
Failure to address these urgent challenges will damage ASEAN’s international credibility. It is crucial that ASEAN seizes this opportunity to work towards the realisation of long overdue human rights improvements in Myanmar.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises 10 member states: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The annual ASEAN Ministerial Meeting takes place from 19 – 23 July this year.
Stop Human Rights Violation !
http://www.amnesty.org/
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Press Release - Courtesy : Amnesty International
Southeast Asian nations should press the Myanmar government to protect the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association throughout the elections period and beyond, Amnesty International said today on the eve of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Ha Noi.
ASEAN has repeatedly emphasized that the elections should be held in a “free, fair and inclusive manner”. Yet those calls do not go far enough to highlight the human rights that are most at risk in the elections context. Indeed, the Myanmar government has not taken any steps to improve its poor human rights record as the polls approach.
More than 2,200 political prisoners continue to languish behind bars in Myanmar. This is double the number since the start of the mass peaceful anti-government protests of August – September 2007—a huge indictment of the grim human rights situation there.
Under Electoral Laws enacted in March, no political prisoner can take part in the elections, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The same laws also prohibit them from membership in any political party.
ASEAN should unequivocally call for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience at the Ministerial Meeting, something they conspicuously failed to do at the organisation’s summit in Ha Noi in April.
The Electoral Laws also list a number of offences and penalties, among them—a blatant violation of freedom of expression—a vaguely worded provision against "exhorting" persons to vote or not to vote in the elections.
Moreover, in a 21 June directive issued by the Union Election Commission, political parties are prohibited from campaigning activities that “harm security, the rule of law and community peace”. These regulations allow for an excessively broad interpretation of what constitutes a threat to “security”. For decades the authorities have routinely used vaguely worded laws to arbitrarily criminalize peaceful political dissent.
New censorship rules introduced in June also serve to undermine any remaining scope for independent journalism around the elections process.
The “three freedoms”—of expression, peaceful assembly, and association—must be safeguarded for all, whether people choose to participate in the elections or not. It is not enough for ASEAN to adopt a “wait and see” attitude.
ASEAN states must also be prepared to speak out forcefully if individuals are harassed and detained for their peaceful political views and activities in the run-up to the elections.
Failure to address these urgent challenges will damage ASEAN’s international credibility. It is crucial that ASEAN seizes this opportunity to work towards the realisation of long overdue human rights improvements in Myanmar.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises 10 member states: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The annual ASEAN Ministerial Meeting takes place from 19 – 23 July this year.
Stop Human Rights Violation !
http://www.amnesty.org/
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Come On India.....!
Amnesty International India
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India has always been known for its patient and calm behaviour amongst all the countries ; be it the matter of border problem with Pakistan or problem with Bangladesh. India has supported Srilanka a lot in the context of providing help regarding the issue of LTTE , building homes for the war effected people but this time surely India has to take some strong steps against the injustice prevailing in Srilanka . It should stop support to this country until and unless the government of Srilanka does'nt look into the matter of injustice going over the war effected people, India should ask the Srilankan government to provide justice and support to the effected people there.
I urge the Indian government to stop providing support to Srilankan government. Now when the United Nations has closed its office in Srilanka, the pressure will be high on Srilankan part and there will be activites of providing justice to the people .Last week alone saw one media outlet receive a threatening letter and the head of another charged with fraud by the supreme court after publishing stories critical of the government. And two international NGO workers involved in protecting journalists had their visas revoked. The situation has been deteriorating for some time. at least 14 media workers have been killed in the country since 2006 and more than 20 are thought to have fled – more per capita than have left Iran. Arbitrary arrests, abductions and assassinations have been documented for over three decades. No one has ever been prosecuted for these attacks on the media.The end of the war has changed nothing. Phones are tapped. Emails hacked. Media outlets harassed and journalists threatened
All this is happening under the noses of the world's press. While burning effigies of Ban draw the spotlight for a few days, Sri Lanka's slow descent into dictatorship has mostly gone unnoticed.All of us who care about universal values, and freedom of expression in particular, have a duty not to let Rajapaksa's twisted version of events go unanswered. If we do so, we encourage other states to believe that they too can get away with the "Sri Lanka option" – using brutal methods to crush internal opposition, without regard for civilian casualties or international law. It has been reported that leaders from Colombia to Thailand have been following Rajapaksa's "success" with great interest
So India, wake up and dont be a part of anti human rights activities prevailing in Srilanka......because at the end of the day its the humanity which pays.....
*( For Amnesty International )
http://www.amnesty.org/
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India has always been known for its patient and calm behaviour amongst all the countries ; be it the matter of border problem with Pakistan or problem with Bangladesh. India has supported Srilanka a lot in the context of providing help regarding the issue of LTTE , building homes for the war effected people but this time surely India has to take some strong steps against the injustice prevailing in Srilanka . It should stop support to this country until and unless the government of Srilanka does'nt look into the matter of injustice going over the war effected people, India should ask the Srilankan government to provide justice and support to the effected people there.
I urge the Indian government to stop providing support to Srilankan government. Now when the United Nations has closed its office in Srilanka, the pressure will be high on Srilankan part and there will be activites of providing justice to the people .Last week alone saw one media outlet receive a threatening letter and the head of another charged with fraud by the supreme court after publishing stories critical of the government. And two international NGO workers involved in protecting journalists had their visas revoked. The situation has been deteriorating for some time. at least 14 media workers have been killed in the country since 2006 and more than 20 are thought to have fled – more per capita than have left Iran. Arbitrary arrests, abductions and assassinations have been documented for over three decades. No one has ever been prosecuted for these attacks on the media.The end of the war has changed nothing. Phones are tapped. Emails hacked. Media outlets harassed and journalists threatened
All this is happening under the noses of the world's press. While burning effigies of Ban draw the spotlight for a few days, Sri Lanka's slow descent into dictatorship has mostly gone unnoticed.All of us who care about universal values, and freedom of expression in particular, have a duty not to let Rajapaksa's twisted version of events go unanswered. If we do so, we encourage other states to believe that they too can get away with the "Sri Lanka option" – using brutal methods to crush internal opposition, without regard for civilian casualties or international law. It has been reported that leaders from Colombia to Thailand have been following Rajapaksa's "success" with great interest
So India, wake up and dont be a part of anti human rights activities prevailing in Srilanka......because at the end of the day its the humanity which pays.....
*( For Amnesty International )
http://www.amnesty.org/
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
THE COLD VIOLATION
Amnesty International India
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The name Kashmir has become a synonym of terror, both are going hand in hand from a very long time. A tug of war kind of is being played since years between India & Pakistan; several peace talks took place and also being planned but almost no result has come out, in spite of being peace more terror and in justification is making its hold strong over this beautiful and heavenly place.
The human rights record of the Indian security forces in Kashmir has been characterized by arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and extrajudicial killings. These have been extensively documented by human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the PUCL (People's Union for Civil Liberties) and others. Most of these violations routinely go unchecked and unpunished, "justified" as unavoidable in a proxy war managed by Pakistan; only a handful cases have been brought to justice by due process. Often, New Delhi's response to the reports by various human rights organizations has been evasive.
Civilian killings in firings
The insurgency that began in 1989 in the Valley involved hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris marching on the streets of Srinagar between January and May 1990. India's response to the protests was brutal with indiscriminate firings at unarmed protesters; The atrocities committed by Indian forces has been acknowledged by senior Indian officials too.
The accountability is very high, as the innocent people are becoming the only sufferers and puppets in the hands of the handful of people who just for the greed of their votes and to make hold of themselves on their lives are playing with their lives. Why the UN is not intervening in this issue? , why these innocent people are forced to live under fear and terror? Why the innocent Kashmiri childrens are just bounded to live inside their house’s boundaries when they want to play outside with their friends and want to study like any other normal child? All such questions are standing tall in front of the government’s and international peace keeping organizations , without solving them we cannot see the dream of “One World “…..
* ( For Amnesty International )
http://www.amnesty.org/
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The human rights record of the Indian security forces in Kashmir has been characterized by arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and extrajudicial killings. These have been extensively documented by human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the PUCL (People's Union for Civil Liberties) and others. Most of these violations routinely go unchecked and unpunished, "justified" as unavoidable in a proxy war managed by Pakistan; only a handful cases have been brought to justice by due process. Often, New Delhi's response to the reports by various human rights organizations has been evasive.
Civilian killings in firings
The insurgency that began in 1989 in the Valley involved hundreds of thousands of Kashmiris marching on the streets of Srinagar between January and May 1990. India's response to the protests was brutal with indiscriminate firings at unarmed protesters; The atrocities committed by Indian forces has been acknowledged by senior Indian officials too.
The accountability is very high, as the innocent people are becoming the only sufferers and puppets in the hands of the handful of people who just for the greed of their votes and to make hold of themselves on their lives are playing with their lives. Why the UN is not intervening in this issue? , why these innocent people are forced to live under fear and terror? Why the innocent Kashmiri childrens are just bounded to live inside their house’s boundaries when they want to play outside with their friends and want to study like any other normal child? All such questions are standing tall in front of the government’s and international peace keeping organizations , without solving them we cannot see the dream of “One World “…..
* ( For Amnesty International )
http://www.amnesty.org/
Monday, July 5, 2010
Press Release : India: Avoid excessive use of force, investigate killings in Kashmir valley
Amnesty International India
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Over the last month, a total of 11 persons, at least eight of them children between 13 and 19 years old, were allegedly killed in shootings by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) paramilitary personnel stationed across the Kashmir valley, as protestors defied curfew regulations, held violent demonstrations and often clashed with the security personnel in Srinagar, Sopore and other towns which were put under curfew.
Amnesty International has learned that the state authorities have ordered probes into some of the killings during the demonstrations at Srinagar, Sopore and Anantnag. The organization is calling on Indian authorities to investigate all the killings and bring to justice the security personnel, as well as any protesters who have violated an internationally cognizable criminal provision, in trials conforming with international standards.
The authorities have blamed the armed Lashkar-e-Toiba and other Kashmiri separatist organisations for instigating the protestors to throw stones and engage in violence. At least 35 people sustained injuries during the demonstrations so far.
On 11 June, 17-year-old Tufail Ahmed Mattoo of Srinagar was killed, according to initial reports, by a teargas shell fired by the police at the protestors. However, later reports said he was shot in the head. On 19 June, a Srinagar court has directed the state police to investigate this killing and submit its report by 28 June.
On 20 June, as protests over the killing of Tufail Ahmed Mattoo turned violent, a 24-year-old carpet weaver of Srinagar, Rafiq Ahmed Bangroo, sustained serious head injuries and went into coma. He died on 19 June at the hospital. Some reports suggest that he was beaten by the CRPF personnel during the protests. The next day witnessed further protests over the death of Bangroo, as youths returning from his funeral attacked a CRPF post and attempted to set fire to a CRPF armoured vehicle. A 19-year-old relative of Bangroo, Javed Malla, was killed in the CRPF firing.
On 25 June, two teenaged children, Firdous Ahmad Kakroo and Shakeel Ahmad Ganai were killed as the CRPF personnel fired at demonstrators demanding the bodies of two armed guerrillas killed by the security forces near the Sopore town, 55 km from Srinagar. Eyewitnesses had reported that the demonstrators set fire to the CRPF commanding officer’s vehicle and attacked a security bunker. The authorities claimed that the two were armed guerrillas with close links with Lashkar-e-Toiba and the CRPF claimed that it had fired in self-defence.
Over the next two days, Sopore witnessed two more deaths – of 22-year-old Bilal Ahmed Wani and 17-year-old Tajamul Ahmad Bhat - as the CRPF personnel fired to quell protestors repeatedly defying curfew. On 28 June, demonstrators on the outskirts of Baramulla town clashed with the CRPF personnel after which another youth, Tariq Ahmed Rather was shot dead; the next day. The next day, three protestors, 15-year-old Ishfaq Ahmed Khanday, 17-year-old Imtiyaz Ahmed Itoo and 19-year-old Shujatul Islam – were shot dead in Anantnag district. While the initial reports said they were killed in firing by the CRPF, later reports suggested that they had been initially detained and then killed.
Amnesty International reminds the Indian authorities that they have an obligation to protect the right to life in accordance with international law. This includes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a state party, and standards such as the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, which state that firearms should be used only when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.
A meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 29 June, directed the CRPF to exercise “maximum restraint and sensitivity” while assisting the state police in enforcing curfew regulations in the valley. Amnesty International is urging the Indian government to ensure implementation of its directives, and ensure protection of the right to life under international law.
Background
The latest round of protests over extrajudicial executions in Kashmir commenced in late May after the Jammu and Kashmir authorities exhumed the remains of three young men allegedly killed by the Indian security forces at Machil in Baramulla district after they had been promised jobs as casual labourers for the security personnel stationed near the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan. An inquiry is being conducted into the killings.
The protests also coincided with the commencement of the annual Hindu pilgrimage to Amarnath in the valley, heightening security concerns and the recent Indo-Pakistan meeting at Islamabad last week.
Related
India: Extrajudicial executions must be investigated and suspects prosecuted, AI Index: ASA 20/015/2010, 8 June 2010 http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA20/015/2010/en
* ( Content & Photograph courtesy Amnesty International )
http://www.amnesty.org/
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Authorities in India should avoid excessive use of force while dealing with demonstrators in the Kashmir valley, Amnesty International said today.
Over the last month, a total of 11 persons, at least eight of them children between 13 and 19 years old, were allegedly killed in shootings by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) paramilitary personnel stationed across the Kashmir valley, as protestors defied curfew regulations, held violent demonstrations and often clashed with the security personnel in Srinagar, Sopore and other towns which were put under curfew.
Amnesty International has learned that the state authorities have ordered probes into some of the killings during the demonstrations at Srinagar, Sopore and Anantnag. The organization is calling on Indian authorities to investigate all the killings and bring to justice the security personnel, as well as any protesters who have violated an internationally cognizable criminal provision, in trials conforming with international standards.
The authorities have blamed the armed Lashkar-e-Toiba and other Kashmiri separatist organisations for instigating the protestors to throw stones and engage in violence. At least 35 people sustained injuries during the demonstrations so far.
On 11 June, 17-year-old Tufail Ahmed Mattoo of Srinagar was killed, according to initial reports, by a teargas shell fired by the police at the protestors. However, later reports said he was shot in the head. On 19 June, a Srinagar court has directed the state police to investigate this killing and submit its report by 28 June.
On 20 June, as protests over the killing of Tufail Ahmed Mattoo turned violent, a 24-year-old carpet weaver of Srinagar, Rafiq Ahmed Bangroo, sustained serious head injuries and went into coma. He died on 19 June at the hospital. Some reports suggest that he was beaten by the CRPF personnel during the protests. The next day witnessed further protests over the death of Bangroo, as youths returning from his funeral attacked a CRPF post and attempted to set fire to a CRPF armoured vehicle. A 19-year-old relative of Bangroo, Javed Malla, was killed in the CRPF firing.
On 25 June, two teenaged children, Firdous Ahmad Kakroo and Shakeel Ahmad Ganai were killed as the CRPF personnel fired at demonstrators demanding the bodies of two armed guerrillas killed by the security forces near the Sopore town, 55 km from Srinagar. Eyewitnesses had reported that the demonstrators set fire to the CRPF commanding officer’s vehicle and attacked a security bunker. The authorities claimed that the two were armed guerrillas with close links with Lashkar-e-Toiba and the CRPF claimed that it had fired in self-defence.
Over the next two days, Sopore witnessed two more deaths – of 22-year-old Bilal Ahmed Wani and 17-year-old Tajamul Ahmad Bhat - as the CRPF personnel fired to quell protestors repeatedly defying curfew. On 28 June, demonstrators on the outskirts of Baramulla town clashed with the CRPF personnel after which another youth, Tariq Ahmed Rather was shot dead; the next day. The next day, three protestors, 15-year-old Ishfaq Ahmed Khanday, 17-year-old Imtiyaz Ahmed Itoo and 19-year-old Shujatul Islam – were shot dead in Anantnag district. While the initial reports said they were killed in firing by the CRPF, later reports suggested that they had been initially detained and then killed.
Amnesty International reminds the Indian authorities that they have an obligation to protect the right to life in accordance with international law. This includes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a state party, and standards such as the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, which state that firearms should be used only when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.
A meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 29 June, directed the CRPF to exercise “maximum restraint and sensitivity” while assisting the state police in enforcing curfew regulations in the valley. Amnesty International is urging the Indian government to ensure implementation of its directives, and ensure protection of the right to life under international law.
Background
The latest round of protests over extrajudicial executions in Kashmir commenced in late May after the Jammu and Kashmir authorities exhumed the remains of three young men allegedly killed by the Indian security forces at Machil in Baramulla district after they had been promised jobs as casual labourers for the security personnel stationed near the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan. An inquiry is being conducted into the killings.
The protests also coincided with the commencement of the annual Hindu pilgrimage to Amarnath in the valley, heightening security concerns and the recent Indo-Pakistan meeting at Islamabad last week.
Related
India: Extrajudicial executions must be investigated and suspects prosecuted, AI Index: ASA 20/015/2010, 8 June 2010 http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA20/015/2010/en
* ( Content & Photograph courtesy Amnesty International )
http://www.amnesty.org/
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Escaping the “child-catchers” of the LTTE
Amnesty International India
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Amnesty International is calling on the UN to set up an independent investigation into possible war crimes committed in Sri Lanka in the final months of the civil war which ended in May 2009. Both sides, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government’s armed forces committed human rights violations. The families who suffered deserve justice and if you want to know why, read young Kamla’s account of how she escaped capture.
Child-catchers of the LTTE
The bullets and bombs were scary but what struck terror in Kamla’s heart were the “child-catchers” of the LTTE. For months, Kamla (nearly 15) and her 2 younger sisters managed to escape them by hiding in barrels buried underground in the backyard. The lid would be closed and soil sprinkled on top, with only a small tube fitted for breathing.
However, during the final months of the war, shelling became so bad that the family were displaced 14 times and ended up in a hut without any of their possessions.
Caught in the cross-fire
One morning, when Kamla came out of the hut she found the place surrounded by more than 20 child-catchers. She ran in terror, ducking and hiding behind huts and somehow managed to escape. That night, her family decided they couldn’t continue like this anymore. Along with 150 other Tamils, they began moving towards the Sri Lankan army controlled areas, risking one final confrontation with the LTTE. “Tigers fired wildly. Parents fought against Tigers and some were dragged away,” recalls Kamla. But after a night of battle, the Sri Lankan army saved them and sent them to the Vavuniya camp.
Take Action
A year after this escape, Kamla drew the picture above (she is in yellow, surrounded by “child-catchers” in black) to show what disturbed her the most. Help Kamla and her family discover the truth by calling for an independent investigation. Your signatures will be presented to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon at a high level meeting in September during the UN General Assembly.
Please click on the link below to help Kamla.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/call-un-investigate-sri-lanka-rights-violations
( For Amnesty International , Photo Courtesy - Amnesty International.)
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Amnesty International is calling on the UN to set up an independent investigation into possible war crimes committed in Sri Lanka in the final months of the civil war which ended in May 2009. Both sides, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government’s armed forces committed human rights violations. The families who suffered deserve justice and if you want to know why, read young Kamla’s account of how she escaped capture.
Child-catchers of the LTTE
The bullets and bombs were scary but what struck terror in Kamla’s heart were the “child-catchers” of the LTTE. For months, Kamla (nearly 15) and her 2 younger sisters managed to escape them by hiding in barrels buried underground in the backyard. The lid would be closed and soil sprinkled on top, with only a small tube fitted for breathing.
However, during the final months of the war, shelling became so bad that the family were displaced 14 times and ended up in a hut without any of their possessions.
Caught in the cross-fire
One morning, when Kamla came out of the hut she found the place surrounded by more than 20 child-catchers. She ran in terror, ducking and hiding behind huts and somehow managed to escape. That night, her family decided they couldn’t continue like this anymore. Along with 150 other Tamils, they began moving towards the Sri Lankan army controlled areas, risking one final confrontation with the LTTE. “Tigers fired wildly. Parents fought against Tigers and some were dragged away,” recalls Kamla. But after a night of battle, the Sri Lankan army saved them and sent them to the Vavuniya camp.
A year after this escape, Kamla drew the picture above (she is in yellow, surrounded by “child-catchers” in black) to show what disturbed her the most. Help Kamla and her family discover the truth by calling for an independent investigation. Your signatures will be presented to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon at a high level meeting in September during the UN General Assembly.
Please click on the link below to help Kamla.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/call-un-investigate-sri-lanka-rights-violations
( For Amnesty International , Photo Courtesy - Amnesty International.)
An Interview With Yolanda....
Amnesty International India
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I got a unique opportunity to interview Yolanda who is a researcher & working on the Sri lankan Human Rights issues connected with Amnesty International. Here are the points of conversation -
Q. Please give a brief detail about your campaign there in Sri Lanka.
A. Our current campaign is “Sri Lanka: Demanding justice for Survivors one year after the end of the conflict’. Despite massive violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by both sides during the war, impunity remains the norm. Survivors and family members of those killed have no hope of justice, truth and reparations at the national level. International pressure on Sri Lanka has been disturbingly weak. In particular, governments and the UN have taken inadequate steps to intervene and ensure accountability.
Amnesty is demanding that the UN establish an independent international investigation, as a first step towards applying international justice to ensure accountability for the grave violations committed in Sri Lanka.
Q. What are the threats that people like you face from the Sri Lankan government’s propaganda machine?
A. As a human rights activist based in Europe I don’t face the same threats as human rights defenders inside Sri Lanka. I have been subject to smear campaigns for the kinds of issues I raise on Sri Lanka but this doesn’t compare to the feelings of insecurity and fear that activists inside the country face. What has been quite difficult is dealing with lack of access to the country. Amnesty has not been allowed to visit the country for the last two years and that makes our analysis and support work for human rights on the ground more challenging. The government must have something serious to hide if it is not transparent and refuses access to human rights organisations like Amnesty International.
I really feel for my human rights colleagues on the ground inside Sri Lanka. It’s frightening how the space for critical voices has closed inside Sri Lanka over the last few years. After the Ceasefire Agreement collapsed and Sri Lanka returned to conventional war, human rights violations surged. There was an increase in arbitrary and politically motivated detention of those who spoke out against the war or who simply expressed an opinion that didn’t sit neatly with the government’s ‘No Holds Barred, all out war agenda”. Journalists have been killed for their views and human rights activists have also received death threats. The authorities use of sweeping emergency regulations has had a chilling effect on freedom of expression.
Q. What in your view making United Nations helpless in taking strong steps to stop the brutality and in justice prevailing in Sri Lanka?
A. One challenge was the way that humanitarian space was restricted during the war. The government played hardball with international agencies deliberately restricting humanitarian space.
Personally, I think the UN should have been stronger role in defending the critical role of protection. In September 2008 the government asked INGOs to leave the Vanni (the combat zone) and by complying without bringing in high level advocacy the UN left the civilians left in the fighting zone more at risk.
The Un does not seem to have woken up to the threat the ‘Sri Lanka option’ means to the laws of war. It seems to be pressured by countries like Russia, China and members of the Non aligned movement who want to use the national sovereignty argument to stop the Un from doing a proper investigation.
It’s vital that the UN remembers its promises to protect and in this regard I hope the recent panel set up will be a first step in understanding what needs to be done for victims families.
Q. In your view, why the Sri Lankan government so far has been failed to do anything towards this brutality and has not been able to provide justice and reparations to the families affected?
A. To be honest it’s really a question of political will.
Successive governments in Sri Lanka have been complicit in burying human rights violations.
One example of this is what happens with official Commissions of Inquiry.
Sri Lanka has a long history of establishing commissions of inquiry in response to human rights violations. In 2009, Amnesty International issued a report entitled Twenty-years of make-believe: Sri Lanka’s commissions of inquiry (AI Index: ASA 37/005/2009) which documented the systematic failures of these mechanisms to bring about justice, truth and reparations for victims. None of them have been adequately empowered, resourced or supported politically to ensure real accountability The main effect of the government’s myriad commissions of inquiry, advisory panels and committees mandated to look into human rights violations has been to blunt international criticism. More than anything, the Sri Lankan government, which actively suppresses criticism and opposition, would not allow Commissions to carry out their mandates independently.
So frankly the government is not serious about challenging the climate of impunity.
Q. How are you getting the resources for your work and have you ever came across any such activity of threat?
A. Our biggest challenge is getting accurate and verifiable information.
The government deliberately restricted information sources during the war – sealing off the conflict zone so this was a war without witnesses.
Foreign journalists and researchers (including Amnesty International) have been refused entry into the country and there remains a virtual absence of accurate and unbiased coverage of the final months of Eelam War IV and its aftermath.
We’re looking at a government that wants to shut down dialogue. You can see the impact this is having more broadly leading to a deterioration in democratic rights.
If the government has nothing to hide why doesn’t it let in independent investigators? On 22 June the UNSG set up a panel to support accountability initiatives. The government has refused to co-operate with the panel and has already announced it will refuse visas to the 3 member team. A team that includes prominent professionals from Asia including a former Attorney General from Indonesia.
Q. How the effected families are passing their days in Sri Lanka that too without justice being given to them?
A. I’ve spoken to a number of war survivors in Sri Lanka and their experiences are heartbreaking. One particular conversation stays with me. A senior civil servant described how he lost his wife in the final days of the war. She was killed by a shell attack. He held her while she was dying and had to leave her in the area of fighting without giving her a proper ceremony as shells rained down and he had to flee for safety. He said ‘You can’t give me back my loved ones but please fight for justice’.
Families in Sri Lanka deserve to know what happened. A huge number of civilians were killed in the final months of fighting. Both the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam commited serious violations. Families need to have an international independent investigation so that we can understand the facts of what happened.
Q. What more steps should be taken to improve the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka?
A. Good civil policing, free from military and political influence and duties, and an efficient and independent justice system are critically important.
Many Sri Lankans have lost faith in the criminal justice system.
One particular area of concern from a human rights viewpoint is the detention of Ex-Combatants.
Amnesty International received credible reports in 2009 that the Sri Lankan army engaged in torture and enforced disappearances of suspected LTTE members, including some who were captured and detained in so called “rehabilitation” facilities – mostly re-purposed school buildings or former displacement camps These serious allegations require independent investigation.
Amnesty International is very concerned about the Sri Lankan government’s continued detention of alleged LTTE members in these facilities. More than 10,000 people remain arbitrarily detained without charge, and information about their whereabouts has not been made public. There is no central list of names identifying specific places of detention. Detainees have not been permitted to challenge their detentions in court and the ICRC does not have access to them to ensure their wellbeing.
Although an increasing number of families have managed to gain some access to relatives detained by the authorities for “rehabilitation,” some have not had any contact and Amnesty International has been told that many families have not been informed of prisoner transfers. People attempting to leave displacement camps and return to their villages of origin voiced fears that they would face even greater obstacles maintaining contact with detained relatives.
Q. What do you think has been your biggest achievement so far in this journey & how do you think you are getting benefit out of this work?
A. One very happy moment in the last few months was seeing journalist Tissa released and safe.
Tissa had been sentenced last year to 20 years’ hard labor, after an unfair trial, for criticizing the Sri Lankan government’s conduct of the war against the Tamil Tigers in a couple magazine articles.
Amnesty International had adopted Tissa as a “ prisoner of conscience ,” since he was being prosecuted solely for his legitimate journalistic activities. While the Sri Lankan government had announced on May 3 that President Rajapaksa had decided to pardon Tissa, as of June 9 the pardon still hadn’t been issued. Nor did we know whether his rights would be fully restored, including the right to leave the country.
His pardon finally came through and he the Committee to Protect Journalists reported, Tissa arrived in Washington, DC on 12 June.
This is part of a worldwide action on Sri Lank – not just by Amnesty but local and international human rights groups which shows that working together can have an impact.
Q. What are your futures plans regarding Human Rights?
A. Lots! I’m very excited by Amnesty’s new Dignity campaign and want to look at possibilities for taking this forward with our section in Nepal. The section there recently had a caravan touring the country highlighting workers rights and there’s also a lot of important work to do on the millennium goals.
Q. Advice for people who want to come in the same field and want to adopt the same path like you.
A. This may be a cliché but Gramsci’s advice to have pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will has been handy.
It’s very important to have an understanding that it’s not easy to take on governments and challenge injustice. You often need a long term perspective to have faith that change is possible.
At the same time there’s an incredible energy and motivation in being part of a global movement. 2.8 million people support Amnesty – they believe in the indivisibility of rights and want a better world based on the ethical foundations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I’m inspired by Amnesty activists who sometimes go to enormous lengths at a very personal level to raise awareness of rights issues.
Sometimes when I’ve felt exhausted – I’m thinking here of the final months of the war in Sri Lanka, when it was difficult to know that people in the No Fire Zone were being deliberately shelled and the world didn’t seem to be able to respond, I have suddenly been uplifted by the actions of human rights colleagues around the world who held a vigil or wrote letters to their policy makers refusing to accept injustices.
I would urge anyone interested in this field to form a rights group and start to engage in solidarity actions. We are only part of the way on the journey to the UDHR vision and it matters that people care and take action and refuse to accept a world or politicians that are indifferent.
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I got a unique opportunity to interview Yolanda who is a researcher & working on the Sri lankan Human Rights issues connected with Amnesty International. Here are the points of conversation -
Q. Please give a brief detail about your campaign there in Sri Lanka.
A. Our current campaign is “Sri Lanka: Demanding justice for Survivors one year after the end of the conflict’. Despite massive violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by both sides during the war, impunity remains the norm. Survivors and family members of those killed have no hope of justice, truth and reparations at the national level. International pressure on Sri Lanka has been disturbingly weak. In particular, governments and the UN have taken inadequate steps to intervene and ensure accountability.
Amnesty is demanding that the UN establish an independent international investigation, as a first step towards applying international justice to ensure accountability for the grave violations committed in Sri Lanka.
Q. What are the threats that people like you face from the Sri Lankan government’s propaganda machine?
A. As a human rights activist based in Europe I don’t face the same threats as human rights defenders inside Sri Lanka. I have been subject to smear campaigns for the kinds of issues I raise on Sri Lanka but this doesn’t compare to the feelings of insecurity and fear that activists inside the country face. What has been quite difficult is dealing with lack of access to the country. Amnesty has not been allowed to visit the country for the last two years and that makes our analysis and support work for human rights on the ground more challenging. The government must have something serious to hide if it is not transparent and refuses access to human rights organisations like Amnesty International.
I really feel for my human rights colleagues on the ground inside Sri Lanka. It’s frightening how the space for critical voices has closed inside Sri Lanka over the last few years. After the Ceasefire Agreement collapsed and Sri Lanka returned to conventional war, human rights violations surged. There was an increase in arbitrary and politically motivated detention of those who spoke out against the war or who simply expressed an opinion that didn’t sit neatly with the government’s ‘No Holds Barred, all out war agenda”. Journalists have been killed for their views and human rights activists have also received death threats. The authorities use of sweeping emergency regulations has had a chilling effect on freedom of expression.
Q. What in your view making United Nations helpless in taking strong steps to stop the brutality and in justice prevailing in Sri Lanka?
A. One challenge was the way that humanitarian space was restricted during the war. The government played hardball with international agencies deliberately restricting humanitarian space.
Personally, I think the UN should have been stronger role in defending the critical role of protection. In September 2008 the government asked INGOs to leave the Vanni (the combat zone) and by complying without bringing in high level advocacy the UN left the civilians left in the fighting zone more at risk.
The Un does not seem to have woken up to the threat the ‘Sri Lanka option’ means to the laws of war. It seems to be pressured by countries like Russia, China and members of the Non aligned movement who want to use the national sovereignty argument to stop the Un from doing a proper investigation.
It’s vital that the UN remembers its promises to protect and in this regard I hope the recent panel set up will be a first step in understanding what needs to be done for victims families.
Q. In your view, why the Sri Lankan government so far has been failed to do anything towards this brutality and has not been able to provide justice and reparations to the families affected?
A. To be honest it’s really a question of political will.
Successive governments in Sri Lanka have been complicit in burying human rights violations.
One example of this is what happens with official Commissions of Inquiry.
Sri Lanka has a long history of establishing commissions of inquiry in response to human rights violations. In 2009, Amnesty International issued a report entitled Twenty-years of make-believe: Sri Lanka’s commissions of inquiry (AI Index: ASA 37/005/2009) which documented the systematic failures of these mechanisms to bring about justice, truth and reparations for victims. None of them have been adequately empowered, resourced or supported politically to ensure real accountability The main effect of the government’s myriad commissions of inquiry, advisory panels and committees mandated to look into human rights violations has been to blunt international criticism. More than anything, the Sri Lankan government, which actively suppresses criticism and opposition, would not allow Commissions to carry out their mandates independently.
So frankly the government is not serious about challenging the climate of impunity.
Q. How are you getting the resources for your work and have you ever came across any such activity of threat?
A. Our biggest challenge is getting accurate and verifiable information.
The government deliberately restricted information sources during the war – sealing off the conflict zone so this was a war without witnesses.
Foreign journalists and researchers (including Amnesty International) have been refused entry into the country and there remains a virtual absence of accurate and unbiased coverage of the final months of Eelam War IV and its aftermath.
We’re looking at a government that wants to shut down dialogue. You can see the impact this is having more broadly leading to a deterioration in democratic rights.
If the government has nothing to hide why doesn’t it let in independent investigators? On 22 June the UNSG set up a panel to support accountability initiatives. The government has refused to co-operate with the panel and has already announced it will refuse visas to the 3 member team. A team that includes prominent professionals from Asia including a former Attorney General from Indonesia.
Q. How the effected families are passing their days in Sri Lanka that too without justice being given to them?
A. I’ve spoken to a number of war survivors in Sri Lanka and their experiences are heartbreaking. One particular conversation stays with me. A senior civil servant described how he lost his wife in the final days of the war. She was killed by a shell attack. He held her while she was dying and had to leave her in the area of fighting without giving her a proper ceremony as shells rained down and he had to flee for safety. He said ‘You can’t give me back my loved ones but please fight for justice’.
Families in Sri Lanka deserve to know what happened. A huge number of civilians were killed in the final months of fighting. Both the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam commited serious violations. Families need to have an international independent investigation so that we can understand the facts of what happened.
Q. What more steps should be taken to improve the situation of human rights in Sri Lanka?
A. Good civil policing, free from military and political influence and duties, and an efficient and independent justice system are critically important.
Many Sri Lankans have lost faith in the criminal justice system.
One particular area of concern from a human rights viewpoint is the detention of Ex-Combatants.
Amnesty International received credible reports in 2009 that the Sri Lankan army engaged in torture and enforced disappearances of suspected LTTE members, including some who were captured and detained in so called “rehabilitation” facilities – mostly re-purposed school buildings or former displacement camps These serious allegations require independent investigation.
Amnesty International is very concerned about the Sri Lankan government’s continued detention of alleged LTTE members in these facilities. More than 10,000 people remain arbitrarily detained without charge, and information about their whereabouts has not been made public. There is no central list of names identifying specific places of detention. Detainees have not been permitted to challenge their detentions in court and the ICRC does not have access to them to ensure their wellbeing.
Although an increasing number of families have managed to gain some access to relatives detained by the authorities for “rehabilitation,” some have not had any contact and Amnesty International has been told that many families have not been informed of prisoner transfers. People attempting to leave displacement camps and return to their villages of origin voiced fears that they would face even greater obstacles maintaining contact with detained relatives.
Q. What do you think has been your biggest achievement so far in this journey & how do you think you are getting benefit out of this work?
A. One very happy moment in the last few months was seeing journalist Tissa released and safe.
Tissa had been sentenced last year to 20 years’ hard labor, after an unfair trial, for criticizing the Sri Lankan government’s conduct of the war against the Tamil Tigers in a couple magazine articles.
Amnesty International had adopted Tissa as a “ prisoner of conscience ,” since he was being prosecuted solely for his legitimate journalistic activities. While the Sri Lankan government had announced on May 3 that President Rajapaksa had decided to pardon Tissa, as of June 9 the pardon still hadn’t been issued. Nor did we know whether his rights would be fully restored, including the right to leave the country.
His pardon finally came through and he the Committee to Protect Journalists reported, Tissa arrived in Washington, DC on 12 June.
This is part of a worldwide action on Sri Lank – not just by Amnesty but local and international human rights groups which shows that working together can have an impact.
Q. What are your futures plans regarding Human Rights?
A. Lots! I’m very excited by Amnesty’s new Dignity campaign and want to look at possibilities for taking this forward with our section in Nepal. The section there recently had a caravan touring the country highlighting workers rights and there’s also a lot of important work to do on the millennium goals.
Q. Advice for people who want to come in the same field and want to adopt the same path like you.
A. This may be a cliché but Gramsci’s advice to have pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will has been handy.
It’s very important to have an understanding that it’s not easy to take on governments and challenge injustice. You often need a long term perspective to have faith that change is possible.
At the same time there’s an incredible energy and motivation in being part of a global movement. 2.8 million people support Amnesty – they believe in the indivisibility of rights and want a better world based on the ethical foundations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I’m inspired by Amnesty activists who sometimes go to enormous lengths at a very personal level to raise awareness of rights issues.
Sometimes when I’ve felt exhausted – I’m thinking here of the final months of the war in Sri Lanka, when it was difficult to know that people in the No Fire Zone were being deliberately shelled and the world didn’t seem to be able to respond, I have suddenly been uplifted by the actions of human rights colleagues around the world who held a vigil or wrote letters to their policy makers refusing to accept injustices.
I would urge anyone interested in this field to form a rights group and start to engage in solidarity actions. We are only part of the way on the journey to the UDHR vision and it matters that people care and take action and refuse to accept a world or politicians that are indifferent.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
India’s relations with Myanmar fail to address human rights concerns in run up to elections
Amnesty International India
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http://www.amnesty.org/
Amnesty International calls on the Government of India as a regional leader, to use its influence to improve the human rights situation in Myanmar in advance of the upcoming elections.
With Myanmar’s first elections in two decades approaching, the three freedoms - of expression, association and peaceful assembly - essential for people to freely participate in the political process, are increasingly being denied. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is one of some 2,200 political prisoners in Myanmar. None of them will be able to participate in this year’s elections under new election laws - laws that the Indian government has failed to condemn.
The Government of India claims to follow a ‘constructive’ approach in promoting human rights
improvements in Myanmar. However, its response to the dire state of human rights in the country has been increasingly inadequate.
By disassociating itself from the recent critical resolution on Myanmar’s terrible human rights
record at the United Nations Human Rights Council, while issuing the anodyne call for elections to be ‘inclusive and broad based’, the Government of India has ignored the reality on the ground the resolution looked to address.
Political repression is also occurring against a backdrop of widespread and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by the Myanmar army in its campaign against ethnic minorities.
While India suspended most shipments of military hardware to Myanmar in late 2006, it is
reportedly considering a resumption of its arms sales. Its opposition to a global arms embargo on Myanmar makes its reluctance to support wider sanctions, supposedly based on the harm they would do to the wider population, disingenuous. Amnesty International calls on the Government of India to maintain its current suspension of military transfers to Myanmar.
Myanmar’s other neighbours have in some crucial instances taken a stronger stance than India. Singaporean Foreign Minister, George Yeo, in a statement after the ASEAN Summit on 9 April 2010, complained of the obstacles ASEAN faces in acting on Myanmar due to the stances of both India and China. In October 2007 during the popular protests against the Myanmar government, ASEAN - chaired then by Singapore - expressed “revulsion” at the brutal crackdown. India expressed only “concern”.
In May 2008 after the devastating Cyclone Nargis, many in the international community, including China and ASEAN, raised the Myanmar government’s failure to assist the 2.5 million survivors. India instead ‘saluted’ the people and government for their resilience and called for the aid process to be ‘apolitical’, ignoring the fact that Myanmar’s leaders had already politicised aid by blocking much-needed assistance.
India’s role in the “Group of Friends of the Secretary-General on Myanmar” at the UN is a small step in the right direction but much more is needed. To participate in the group but to be silent unilaterally at best weakens India’s ability to help effect positive change in Myanmar, and at worst sends a mixed message that could be interpreted as tacit endorsement of the human rights violations taking place.
The numerous human rights violations documented by Amnesty International and many others during periods of heightened political dissent in Myanmar indicate the need to focus on upholding human rights during the upcoming election period.
As the Myanmar elections approach Amnesty International urges the Government of India to
publicly call for the three freedoms - of expression, association and peaceful assembly - to be
guaranteed throughout the election period. This is the time to show true human rights leadership as befits a key regional player – and not the time for silence.
* Press Release - Courtesy Amnesty International
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http://www.amnesty.org/
Amnesty International calls on the Government of India as a regional leader, to use its influence to improve the human rights situation in Myanmar in advance of the upcoming elections.
With Myanmar’s first elections in two decades approaching, the three freedoms - of expression, association and peaceful assembly - essential for people to freely participate in the political process, are increasingly being denied. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is one of some 2,200 political prisoners in Myanmar. None of them will be able to participate in this year’s elections under new election laws - laws that the Indian government has failed to condemn.
The Government of India claims to follow a ‘constructive’ approach in promoting human rights
improvements in Myanmar. However, its response to the dire state of human rights in the country has been increasingly inadequate.
By disassociating itself from the recent critical resolution on Myanmar’s terrible human rights
record at the United Nations Human Rights Council, while issuing the anodyne call for elections to be ‘inclusive and broad based’, the Government of India has ignored the reality on the ground the resolution looked to address.
Political repression is also occurring against a backdrop of widespread and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by the Myanmar army in its campaign against ethnic minorities.
While India suspended most shipments of military hardware to Myanmar in late 2006, it is
reportedly considering a resumption of its arms sales. Its opposition to a global arms embargo on Myanmar makes its reluctance to support wider sanctions, supposedly based on the harm they would do to the wider population, disingenuous. Amnesty International calls on the Government of India to maintain its current suspension of military transfers to Myanmar.
Myanmar’s other neighbours have in some crucial instances taken a stronger stance than India. Singaporean Foreign Minister, George Yeo, in a statement after the ASEAN Summit on 9 April 2010, complained of the obstacles ASEAN faces in acting on Myanmar due to the stances of both India and China. In October 2007 during the popular protests against the Myanmar government, ASEAN - chaired then by Singapore - expressed “revulsion” at the brutal crackdown. India expressed only “concern”.
In May 2008 after the devastating Cyclone Nargis, many in the international community, including China and ASEAN, raised the Myanmar government’s failure to assist the 2.5 million survivors. India instead ‘saluted’ the people and government for their resilience and called for the aid process to be ‘apolitical’, ignoring the fact that Myanmar’s leaders had already politicised aid by blocking much-needed assistance.
India’s role in the “Group of Friends of the Secretary-General on Myanmar” at the UN is a small step in the right direction but much more is needed. To participate in the group but to be silent unilaterally at best weakens India’s ability to help effect positive change in Myanmar, and at worst sends a mixed message that could be interpreted as tacit endorsement of the human rights violations taking place.
The numerous human rights violations documented by Amnesty International and many others during periods of heightened political dissent in Myanmar indicate the need to focus on upholding human rights during the upcoming election period.
As the Myanmar elections approach Amnesty International urges the Government of India to
publicly call for the three freedoms - of expression, association and peaceful assembly - to be
guaranteed throughout the election period. This is the time to show true human rights leadership as befits a key regional player – and not the time for silence.
* Press Release - Courtesy Amnesty International
Friday, June 18, 2010
Fraud & Breach Of Trust
Amnesty International India
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Now the almost-forgotten Bhopal gas tragedy is back in the headlines. For most readers, it is history recalled. But, for the Bhopal survivors, it is tragedy relived. A brief recount of the killer gas explosion first. The tragedy struck at the sleeping city past midnight on December 2-3, 1984. A valve defect had diverted a ton of water into a storage tank of the factory that contained some 42 tons of poisonous gas known as Mythl IsoCynate (MIC). This resulted in a huge chemical implosion raising the heat to 200 Celsius. That instantly opened the tank, and emptied the 42 tons of toxic gas that exploded into the atmosphere. MIC is a deadly poison. If the MIC particles exceed 21 out of a billion in the atmosphere, that can injure, even choke, the lungs and cause death. Imagine some 42,000 kilograms of this poison are let into the air in one shot. The MIC-concentrated area will turn into a mass graveyard. This is precisely what happened in Bhopal.
Some 3,800 people, mostly dwellers in nearby slums, instantly choked to death after inhaling the poison; the toll rose to 10,000 in the next few days; some 15,000-20,000, who had inhaled less intense poison, died miserable deaths on the next two decades; and, some 5,00,000 people, almost half the population of Bhopal then, who inhaled the toxic gas, are living an impaired life of different grades (See ‘Bhopal Disaster and its aftermath: a review’ by Edward Broughton of Columbia University, Environmental Health issue dated May 10, 2005). Many of those living are just breathing dead bodies. On December 3, the dead bodies of humans and animals in thousands were seen strewn on the streets. But what followed the untold tragedy was an unmitigated disaster to the victims. Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation US (UCC), was operating the Bhopal factory. But, UCC disowned its subsidiary once the tragedy occurred, contending that the Bhopal works was that of UCIL, an Indian company; it also ‘fabricated scenarios’ of ‘sabotage’ by ‘unknown Sikh extremist groups’ and ‘disgruntled employees’. In the process ‘the ethical implications of the tragedy and its effect on the Bhopal people were largely ignored’ in the litigations (Broughton). In March 1985 the Indian government, by law, declared itself as the sole trustee of the victims in legal proceedings anywhere. Eventually the US courts, where cases had been first filed, pointed the litigants to the Indian courts — ‘to the detriment’ of the victims (Broughton).
As the sole trustee representing toxic gas victims, the government had first made a claim of $3.3 billion on UCC. The UCC counter-offered about a tenth of it, $350 millions. Suddenly, on UCC owning ‘moral responsibility’ for the tragedy, the sole trustee-government shockingly agreed to an unbelievable, measly compensation of $470 million against its claim of $3.3 billion. The Supreme Court of India mediated this claim, a pittance. Not just a sixth of government’s claim, it was less than five per cent of what UCC itself paid to similar victims in US. The day the settlement was sealed by the Supreme Court, Ram Jethmalani, veteran jurist, said that there was large-scale corruption in the deal. He charged that the government, which forcibly became the sole trustee for the victims, was guilty of criminal breach of trust against the victims. This breach of trust is the worst crime in the continuing story of betrayal of the poor victims from the word go.
Its sad to know that the own government is misleading the poor victims , inspite of understanding their pain the government itself is playing the double game in the mask of justice.
*( For Amnesty International's Demand Dignity Campaign )
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Now the almost-forgotten Bhopal gas tragedy is back in the headlines. For most readers, it is history recalled. But, for the Bhopal survivors, it is tragedy relived. A brief recount of the killer gas explosion first. The tragedy struck at the sleeping city past midnight on December 2-3, 1984. A valve defect had diverted a ton of water into a storage tank of the factory that contained some 42 tons of poisonous gas known as Mythl IsoCynate (MIC). This resulted in a huge chemical implosion raising the heat to 200 Celsius. That instantly opened the tank, and emptied the 42 tons of toxic gas that exploded into the atmosphere. MIC is a deadly poison. If the MIC particles exceed 21 out of a billion in the atmosphere, that can injure, even choke, the lungs and cause death. Imagine some 42,000 kilograms of this poison are let into the air in one shot. The MIC-concentrated area will turn into a mass graveyard. This is precisely what happened in Bhopal.
Some 3,800 people, mostly dwellers in nearby slums, instantly choked to death after inhaling the poison; the toll rose to 10,000 in the next few days; some 15,000-20,000, who had inhaled less intense poison, died miserable deaths on the next two decades; and, some 5,00,000 people, almost half the population of Bhopal then, who inhaled the toxic gas, are living an impaired life of different grades (See ‘Bhopal Disaster and its aftermath: a review’ by Edward Broughton of Columbia University, Environmental Health issue dated May 10, 2005). Many of those living are just breathing dead bodies. On December 3, the dead bodies of humans and animals in thousands were seen strewn on the streets. But what followed the untold tragedy was an unmitigated disaster to the victims. Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation US (UCC), was operating the Bhopal factory. But, UCC disowned its subsidiary once the tragedy occurred, contending that the Bhopal works was that of UCIL, an Indian company; it also ‘fabricated scenarios’ of ‘sabotage’ by ‘unknown Sikh extremist groups’ and ‘disgruntled employees’. In the process ‘the ethical implications of the tragedy and its effect on the Bhopal people were largely ignored’ in the litigations (Broughton). In March 1985 the Indian government, by law, declared itself as the sole trustee of the victims in legal proceedings anywhere. Eventually the US courts, where cases had been first filed, pointed the litigants to the Indian courts — ‘to the detriment’ of the victims (Broughton).
As the sole trustee representing toxic gas victims, the government had first made a claim of $3.3 billion on UCC. The UCC counter-offered about a tenth of it, $350 millions. Suddenly, on UCC owning ‘moral responsibility’ for the tragedy, the sole trustee-government shockingly agreed to an unbelievable, measly compensation of $470 million against its claim of $3.3 billion. The Supreme Court of India mediated this claim, a pittance. Not just a sixth of government’s claim, it was less than five per cent of what UCC itself paid to similar victims in US. The day the settlement was sealed by the Supreme Court, Ram Jethmalani, veteran jurist, said that there was large-scale corruption in the deal. He charged that the government, which forcibly became the sole trustee for the victims, was guilty of criminal breach of trust against the victims. This breach of trust is the worst crime in the continuing story of betrayal of the poor victims from the word go.
Its sad to know that the own government is misleading the poor victims , inspite of understanding their pain the government itself is playing the double game in the mask of justice.
*( For Amnesty International's Demand Dignity Campaign )
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
SAVE THE INNOCENTS !
"Child is the father of the man" or he is the future of tomorrow? But no more. With the growing exploitation and the way we are depriving him of his basic rights, the future seems dark and grim. Child labour is one of the worst forms of exploitation. It has been going on since long without being noticed. Asia has 61% of the world's child laborers. Despite the help offered by few organizations, it's largely taken for granted and no substantial effort has been put in this direction to overcome it and give the children of this world a betterchance.
Exploitation of children in commercial sex trade remains the worst form of child labour in Asia. UNICEF estimates that 1 million children are lured into sex trade in Asia every year, wherein 40% were sold by parents, 15% by their relatives. Traffickers of both children and adults feed largely on the desire of poor families and many young people for economic and personal advancement through migration for work. Thailand is the base for children trafficked from Laos, Cambodia, Burma, and China. The children work as prostitutes, household helpers, in factories, farms, fishing vessels, drug trafficking.
Bonded child labour is extensively rooted in socio-cultural and political structures in parts of South Asia. Bonded children are delivered in repayment of a loan who then work like slaves in agriculture, domestic work, brick kilns, glass industries, tanneries, gem polishing and many other manufacturing and marketing industries. Child abuse in name of domestic work is rampant in Asia. The young are exposed to hazards while doing heavy household work and are usual victims of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse and is most difficult to see as they are restrained within the privacy of our homes.
The rise in the incidences of internal armed conflicts in several Asian countries has resulted in even more exposure of children to armed groups as soldiers, spies, porters and helpers in camps, subjected to abusive treatments in Burma, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Nepal.
Ordinary people can also help fight for the cause by learning about the issue, help organizations that are raising awareness, providing direct help to individual children. It can be decreased by increased family incomes; education - impart skills to help them earn a living, family control - so that families are not burdened by children.
The ILO's International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) has explored many programs to help child laborers. Strong advocates of this approach are Boyden, Myers and Ling; Concerned for Working Children in Karnataka, India; many children's "unions" and "movements" and the Save the Children family of NGO. Helped in this effort by setting up credit schemes, supported education schemes, and got appropriate legislation on child labour implemented.
Let us also contribute in this direction so that no more children work on the streets. Let us all pledge to give them their childhood back, their lost innocence and smile. Let us give them education to light their hearts and this world to make it a better place to live in.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Empty Plate
Poverty is the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Is it enough to blame poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions, and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their governments? Have they pursued policies that actually harm successful development? Such causes of poverty and inequality are no doubt real. But deeper and more global causes of poverty are often less discussed.
Behind the increasing interconnectedness promised by globalization are global decisions, policies, and practices. These are typically influenced, driven, or formulated by the rich and powerful. These can be leaders of rich countries or other global actors such as multinational corporations, institutions, and influential people.
In the face of such enormous external influence, the governments of poor nations and their people are often powerless. As a result, in the global context, a few get wealthy while the majority struggle. Most of humanity lives on just a few dollars a day. Whether you live in the wealthiest nations in the world or the poorest, you will see high levels of inequality.
The poorest people will also have less access to health, education and other services. Problems of hunger, malnutrition and disease afflict the poorest in society. The poorest are also typically marginalized from society and have little representation or voice in public and political debates, making it even harder to escape poverty.
By contrast, the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to benefit from economic or political policies. The amount the world spends on military, financial bailouts and other areas that benefit the wealthy compared to the amount spent to address the daily crisis of poverty and related problems are often staggering. Cutbacks in health, education and other vital social services around the world have resulted from structural adjustment policies prescribed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as conditions for loans and repayment. In addition, developing nation governments are required to open their economies to compete with each other and with more powerful and established industrialized nations. To attract investment, poor countries enter a spiraling race to the bottom to see who can provide lower standards, reduced wages and cheaper resources. This has increased poverty and inequality for most people. It also forms a backbone to what we today call globalization. As a result, it maintains the historic unequal rules of trade.
In most nations today, inequality—the gap between the rich and the poor—is quite high and often widening.
The causes are numerous, including a lack of individual responsibility, bad government policy, exploitation by people and businesses with power and influence, or some combination of these and other factors.
Many feel that high levels of inequality will affect social cohesion and lead to problems such as increasing crime and violence which is true to some extend; When the poor ones will not have bread to eat and shelter to hide themselves then they are likely to choose the illegal path.
Inequality is often a measure of relative poverty. Absolute poverty, however, is also a concern. World Bank figures for world poverty reveals a higher number of people live in poverty than previously thought.
For example, the new poverty line is defined as living on the equivalent of $1.25 a day. With that measure based on latest data available (2005), 1.4 billion people live on or below that line.
Furthermore, almost half the world—over three billion people—live on less than $2.50 a day and at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day: Over 24,000 children die every day around the world out of malnutrition , lack of proper care etc.
Though the steps are being taken to eradicate this issue but still there is yet to do a lot in this context. For example in our country many policies and projects are being made to overcome this issue but the main problem is that the people who are actually in need of those services and policies are not getting the benefit out of it. The corruption is the root cause for this; the government officials take these “so called projects” as there money minting machines and try to take as much benefit from them as possible and in between all this the poor remains poor.
These entire examples shows us how lightly we are taking this burning issue, needless to say that without being serious and without being selfless this issue cannot be resolved.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Poverty or Death Of Human Rights ?
Amnesty International India
Poverty is the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Is it enough to blame poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions, and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their governments? Have they pursued policies that actually harm successful development? Such causes of poverty and inequality are no doubt real. But deeper and more global causes of poverty are often less discussed.
Behind the increasing interconnectedness promised by globalization are global decisions, policies, and practices. These are typically influenced, driven, or formulated by the rich and powerful. These can be leaders of rich countries or other global actors such as multinational corporations, institutions, and influential people.
In the face of such enormous external influence, the governments of poor nations and their people are often powerless. As a result, in the global context, a few get wealthy while the majority struggle. Most of humanity lives on just a few dollars a day. Whether you live in the wealthiest nations in the world or the poorest, you will see high levels of inequality.
The poorest people will also have less access to health, education and other services. Problems of hunger, malnutrition and disease afflict the poorest in society. The poorest are also typically marginalized from society and have little representation or voice in public and political debates, making it even harder to escape poverty.
By contrast, the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to benefit from economic or political policies. The amount the world spends on military, financial bailouts and other areas that benefit the wealthy compared to the amount spent to address the daily crisis of poverty and related problems are often staggering. Cutbacks in health, education and other vital social services around the world have resulted from structural adjustment policies prescribed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as conditions for loans and repayment. In addition, developing nation governments are required to open their economies to compete with each other and with more powerful and established industrialized nations. To attract investment, poor countries enter a spiraling race to the bottom to see who can provide lower standards, reduced wages and cheaper resources. This has increased poverty and inequality for most people. It also forms a backbone to what we today call globalization. As a result, it maintains the historic unequal rules of trade.
Around the world, in rich or poor nations, poverty has always been present.
In most nations today, inequality—the gap between the rich and the poor—is quite high and often widening.
The causes are numerous, including a lack of individual responsibility, bad government policy, exploitation by people and businesses with power and influence, or some combination of these and other factors.
Many feel that high levels of inequality will affect social cohesion and lead to problems such as increasing crime and violence which is true to some extend; When the poor ones will not have bread to eat and shelter to hide themselves then they are likely to choose the illegal path.
Inequality is often a measure of relative poverty. Absolute poverty, however, is also a concern. World Bank figures for world poverty reveals a higher number of people live in poverty than previously thought.
For example, the new poverty line is defined as living on the equivalent of $1.25 a day. With that measure based on latest data available (2005), 1.4 billion people live on or below that line.
Furthermore, almost half the world—over three billion people—live on less than $2.50 ( Rs110.6/- ) a day and at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 ( Rs440/-) a day: Over 24,000 children die every day around the world out of malnutrition , lack of proper care etc.
Though the steps are being taken to eradicate this issue but still there is yet to do a lot in this context. For example in our country many policies and projects are being made to overcome this issue but the main problem is that the people who are actually in need of those services and policies are not getting the benefit out of it. The corruption is the root cause for this; the government officials take these “yojna’s” as there money minting machines and try to take as much benefit from them as possible and in between all this the poor remains poor.
These entire examples shows us how lightly we are taking this burning issue, needless to say that without being serious and without being selfless this issue cannot be resolved.
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Poverty is the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Is it enough to blame poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions, and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their governments? Have they pursued policies that actually harm successful development? Such causes of poverty and inequality are no doubt real. But deeper and more global causes of poverty are often less discussed.
Behind the increasing interconnectedness promised by globalization are global decisions, policies, and practices. These are typically influenced, driven, or formulated by the rich and powerful. These can be leaders of rich countries or other global actors such as multinational corporations, institutions, and influential people.
In the face of such enormous external influence, the governments of poor nations and their people are often powerless. As a result, in the global context, a few get wealthy while the majority struggle. Most of humanity lives on just a few dollars a day. Whether you live in the wealthiest nations in the world or the poorest, you will see high levels of inequality.
The poorest people will also have less access to health, education and other services. Problems of hunger, malnutrition and disease afflict the poorest in society. The poorest are also typically marginalized from society and have little representation or voice in public and political debates, making it even harder to escape poverty.
By contrast, the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to benefit from economic or political policies. The amount the world spends on military, financial bailouts and other areas that benefit the wealthy compared to the amount spent to address the daily crisis of poverty and related problems are often staggering. Cutbacks in health, education and other vital social services around the world have resulted from structural adjustment policies prescribed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as conditions for loans and repayment. In addition, developing nation governments are required to open their economies to compete with each other and with more powerful and established industrialized nations. To attract investment, poor countries enter a spiraling race to the bottom to see who can provide lower standards, reduced wages and cheaper resources. This has increased poverty and inequality for most people. It also forms a backbone to what we today call globalization. As a result, it maintains the historic unequal rules of trade.
Around the world, in rich or poor nations, poverty has always been present.
In most nations today, inequality—the gap between the rich and the poor—is quite high and often widening.
The causes are numerous, including a lack of individual responsibility, bad government policy, exploitation by people and businesses with power and influence, or some combination of these and other factors.
Many feel that high levels of inequality will affect social cohesion and lead to problems such as increasing crime and violence which is true to some extend; When the poor ones will not have bread to eat and shelter to hide themselves then they are likely to choose the illegal path.
Inequality is often a measure of relative poverty. Absolute poverty, however, is also a concern. World Bank figures for world poverty reveals a higher number of people live in poverty than previously thought.
For example, the new poverty line is defined as living on the equivalent of $1.25 a day. With that measure based on latest data available (2005), 1.4 billion people live on or below that line.
Furthermore, almost half the world—over three billion people—live on less than $2.50 ( Rs110.6/- ) a day and at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 ( Rs440/-) a day: Over 24,000 children die every day around the world out of malnutrition , lack of proper care etc.
Though the steps are being taken to eradicate this issue but still there is yet to do a lot in this context. For example in our country many policies and projects are being made to overcome this issue but the main problem is that the people who are actually in need of those services and policies are not getting the benefit out of it. The corruption is the root cause for this; the government officials take these “yojna’s” as there money minting machines and try to take as much benefit from them as possible and in between all this the poor remains poor.
These entire examples shows us how lightly we are taking this burning issue, needless to say that without being serious and without being selfless this issue cannot be resolved.
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Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Dignity....Not Slums Please...!
Amnesty International India
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I sometimes wonder how we people will fight from poverty in the present situation ! the picture is getting worst day by day. We are running without any clue with loads of planning & projects to fight poverty , to provide better shelter and better amenities to the poor ones but what is the outcome ? 25% of Indians live on less than a dollar a day and 70% live on less than two dollars a day. A more acceptable and bit accurate description of incomes in country is Purchase Power Parity (PPP), which is, pricing identical products and services as needed by the local population in different countries, thus establishing a new and a more equitable exchange rate. The foregoing is applicable mostly to tradable goods. The PPP will put India’s GDP at $3.7 Trillion. This will raise daily monies of 25% of Indians at the lowest rung of the society to seven dollars. The latter is still low .The forgoing is not the point; the point is that poverty is a major shame in India’s otherwise decent, scientifically advanced, peace loving and at times turbulent image. Poverty creates slums and slums breed hopelessness and crime. Hence it needs to be tackled as an integral part of economic development.
The key question that arises - will the current hype in economical development in India alter the landscape for the very poor?The answer is that, not much will change in next 20 to 25 years. The real impact will be felt later than twenty-five years. That is when 8% growth trajectory will take the PPP daily income of the very poor in India from seven dollars to forty dollars.
What actually causes SLUMS in the cities ? well let us look it this way....It is a vicious cycle of population growth, opportunities in the cities (leading to migration to the cities), poverty with low incomes, tendency to be closer to work hence occupying any land in the vicinity etc. The key reason out of all is the slow economic progress. After independence in 1947, commercial and industrial activity needed cheap labor in the cities. Plentiful was available in the rural area. They were encouraged to come to cities and work. People, who migrated to the cities and found work, brought their cousins and rest of the families to the cities. Unable to find housing and afford it, they decided to build their shelter closer to work. First, one shelter was built, then two and then two thousand and then ten thousand and on and on. Conniving governments provided electricity and drinking water. Politicians looked at the slums as vote bank. They organized these unauthorized dwellers into a political force; hence slums took a bit of a permanent shape. More slums developed as more population moved to the cities. By mid sixties Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, and all other large cities were dotted with slums.Very poor people live in slums. They are not the only one dwelling there. Fairly well to do people also reside there. They are either offspring of the slum dwellers that found education and an occupation. They have prospered but are unable to find affordable housing, hence have continued to stay in the shantytowns. Others are avoiding paying rent and property taxes. The latter is more often the case. It is not unusual that in the dirtiest of slums, where misery prevails that TV sets, refrigerators and radios are also blaring music. This is quite a contrast from the image which one gets in the media or from the opportunist politicians.India’s capital of Delhi has a million and a half out of fourteen million living in slums. Mumbai is worst with greater percentage living in slums. Other big urban centers have done no better. Newly built cities like Chandigarh and surrounding towns where shantytowns could have been avoided altogether have now slums. The forgoing is India’s shame despite huge progress
.jpg)
To avoid this, India’s economy has to remain at a high state of growth. Jobs created by the economic growth, hence higher incomes are key criteria for poverty reduction and slum elimination. The foregoing together with the current urban renewal in progress in the urban areas today will give cities in India a new look. Higher incomes will create a demand for in-expensive housing, which will have to be met with innovative use of land and building techniques. Government provided housing would be a great failure as it has been elsewhere in the world. Instead sufficient cash has to be placed in the people’s hands together with in-expensive land that people’s housing program become efficient and affordable. In addition slum living has to be made unattractive with land taxes and denial of social services. Slum colonies, which opt out of current hopelessness, should get a better deal in housing which replaces the slums. This followed with rapidly growing rural economy will kill migration. That will also reduce pressure on housing.No single policy has ever brought an end to poverty and slums. It is a concerted effort and better policies, which will end it. No country in the world has ever been able to end poverty and slums completely. That includes the richest nation of the world – USA. The point is that if economy progresses and special effort is made to uplift the poor, poverty and slums will be overtaken by better economic conditions of the people.
How much a poor will wait ?
An economic equilibrium has not been reached in the society yet, where enough money in people’s pocket will persuade them to vacate the slums. This won’t we reached for another 20 to 25 years. By about middle of this period with increased availability of housing and higher incomes, the growth in slum dwelling will be arrested. Decline will begin only when much higher incomes are reached (as stated above), provided India does not make the mistake of regularizing the slums/bustees with land tenure on tenable land and other amenities. That is a sure fire method to keep the slums going. People will always wait for free grant of land ownership even if these grants never materialize. Even the possibility of this ever happening in a distant future will keep the slum dwellers in the slums.
Big and Strong steps are required by the government to eradicate this and to provide a respectful life to the poors.....BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.........
*( For Amnesty International's Demand Dignity Campaign )
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I sometimes wonder how we people will fight from poverty in the present situation ! the picture is getting worst day by day. We are running without any clue with loads of planning & projects to fight poverty , to provide better shelter and better amenities to the poor ones but what is the outcome ? 25% of Indians live on less than a dollar a day and 70% live on less than two dollars a day. A more acceptable and bit accurate description of incomes in country is Purchase Power Parity (PPP), which is, pricing identical products and services as needed by the local population in different countries, thus establishing a new and a more equitable exchange rate. The foregoing is applicable mostly to tradable goods. The PPP will put India’s GDP at $3.7 Trillion. This will raise daily monies of 25% of Indians at the lowest rung of the society to seven dollars. The latter is still low .The forgoing is not the point; the point is that poverty is a major shame in India’s otherwise decent, scientifically advanced, peace loving and at times turbulent image. Poverty creates slums and slums breed hopelessness and crime. Hence it needs to be tackled as an integral part of economic development.
The key question that arises - will the current hype in economical development in India alter the landscape for the very poor?The answer is that, not much will change in next 20 to 25 years. The real impact will be felt later than twenty-five years. That is when 8% growth trajectory will take the PPP daily income of the very poor in India from seven dollars to forty dollars.
What actually causes SLUMS in the cities ? well let us look it this way....It is a vicious cycle of population growth, opportunities in the cities (leading to migration to the cities), poverty with low incomes, tendency to be closer to work hence occupying any land in the vicinity etc. The key reason out of all is the slow economic progress. After independence in 1947, commercial and industrial activity needed cheap labor in the cities. Plentiful was available in the rural area. They were encouraged to come to cities and work. People, who migrated to the cities and found work, brought their cousins and rest of the families to the cities. Unable to find housing and afford it, they decided to build their shelter closer to work. First, one shelter was built, then two and then two thousand and then ten thousand and on and on. Conniving governments provided electricity and drinking water. Politicians looked at the slums as vote bank. They organized these unauthorized dwellers into a political force; hence slums took a bit of a permanent shape. More slums developed as more population moved to the cities. By mid sixties Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, and all other large cities were dotted with slums.Very poor people live in slums. They are not the only one dwelling there. Fairly well to do people also reside there. They are either offspring of the slum dwellers that found education and an occupation. They have prospered but are unable to find affordable housing, hence have continued to stay in the shantytowns. Others are avoiding paying rent and property taxes. The latter is more often the case. It is not unusual that in the dirtiest of slums, where misery prevails that TV sets, refrigerators and radios are also blaring music. This is quite a contrast from the image which one gets in the media or from the opportunist politicians.India’s capital of Delhi has a million and a half out of fourteen million living in slums. Mumbai is worst with greater percentage living in slums. Other big urban centers have done no better. Newly built cities like Chandigarh and surrounding towns where shantytowns could have been avoided altogether have now slums. The forgoing is India’s shame despite huge progress
.jpg)
To avoid this, India’s economy has to remain at a high state of growth. Jobs created by the economic growth, hence higher incomes are key criteria for poverty reduction and slum elimination. The foregoing together with the current urban renewal in progress in the urban areas today will give cities in India a new look. Higher incomes will create a demand for in-expensive housing, which will have to be met with innovative use of land and building techniques. Government provided housing would be a great failure as it has been elsewhere in the world. Instead sufficient cash has to be placed in the people’s hands together with in-expensive land that people’s housing program become efficient and affordable. In addition slum living has to be made unattractive with land taxes and denial of social services. Slum colonies, which opt out of current hopelessness, should get a better deal in housing which replaces the slums. This followed with rapidly growing rural economy will kill migration. That will also reduce pressure on housing.No single policy has ever brought an end to poverty and slums. It is a concerted effort and better policies, which will end it. No country in the world has ever been able to end poverty and slums completely. That includes the richest nation of the world – USA. The point is that if economy progresses and special effort is made to uplift the poor, poverty and slums will be overtaken by better economic conditions of the people.
How much a poor will wait ?
An economic equilibrium has not been reached in the society yet, where enough money in people’s pocket will persuade them to vacate the slums. This won’t we reached for another 20 to 25 years. By about middle of this period with increased availability of housing and higher incomes, the growth in slum dwelling will be arrested. Decline will begin only when much higher incomes are reached (as stated above), provided India does not make the mistake of regularizing the slums/bustees with land tenure on tenable land and other amenities. That is a sure fire method to keep the slums going. People will always wait for free grant of land ownership even if these grants never materialize. Even the possibility of this ever happening in a distant future will keep the slum dwellers in the slums.
Big and Strong steps are required by the government to eradicate this and to provide a respectful life to the poors.....BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.........
*( For Amnesty International's Demand Dignity Campaign )
Monday, May 31, 2010
An Actual Situation !!
Amnesty International India
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"The UN wants to know if your torture is up to international standard."
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International Probe Needed By Srilanka -
Amnesty International India
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The United Nations human rights chief called on Sri Lanka to allow an international probe into the government's final offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels last year.
Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, acknowledged that the Sri Lanka government had created a post-war reconciliation commission to look into alleged human rights violations, and provide justice to victims.
"However, based on previous experience and new information, I remain convinced that such objectives would be better served by establishing an independent international accountability mechanism that would enjoy public confidence, both in Sri Lanka and elsewhere," she told the UN Human Rights Council.
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse last Thursday reiterated that he would not tolerate any outside review of the military offensive.
Sri Lankan Attorney-General Mohan Peiris told the council on Monday that Pillay was prejudging the outcome of the domestic commission's work and warned that an international probe would undermine the country's sovereignty.
"We are of the view that the High Commissioner's observations on the Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation, which has just been established, regrettably seeks to prejudge its outcome even before the mechanism has begun its work," he said.
Peiris defended the domestic probe, saying that it was not unusual for countries emerging from armed conflicts to turn first to internal probes, partly because they were closer to the main issues.
"It is in this context that the government of Sri Lanka has consistently upheld and established a domestic mechanism for transitional justice," he said.
The state-run Daily News newspaper reported on May 5 on Colombo's plans to set up a reconciliation commission to foster ethnic unity as the island recovers from nearly four decades of conflict, but gave few details.
According to a document circulated by the Sri Lanka delegation at the Human Rights Council on Monday, the commission was set up on May 15, with eight people "selected for their eminence and independence."
They are required to examine the circumstances around the failure of a 2002 ceasefire agreement as well as lessons learnt from the conflict and how victims can be helped.
The commission should report back within six months.
Pillay assessed that some progress has been made since the end of the conflict in the return and resettlement of displaced people.
"Concrete initiatives must now follow to provide justice and redress to victims and generally to promote accountability and longer-term reconciliation," she added.
Government troops defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in May last year after killing the guerilla leaders who were fighting for an ethnic Tamil homeland.
The UN estimates that up to 100,000 people died in Sri Lanka's Tamil separatist conflict after the Tiger rebels first emerged in 1972.
The Sinhalese are the majority in Sri Lanka, with the Tamils representing the minority.
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The United Nations human rights chief called on Sri Lanka to allow an international probe into the government's final offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels last year.
Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, acknowledged that the Sri Lanka government had created a post-war reconciliation commission to look into alleged human rights violations, and provide justice to victims.
"However, based on previous experience and new information, I remain convinced that such objectives would be better served by establishing an independent international accountability mechanism that would enjoy public confidence, both in Sri Lanka and elsewhere," she told the UN Human Rights Council.
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse last Thursday reiterated that he would not tolerate any outside review of the military offensive.
Sri Lankan Attorney-General Mohan Peiris told the council on Monday that Pillay was prejudging the outcome of the domestic commission's work and warned that an international probe would undermine the country's sovereignty.
"We are of the view that the High Commissioner's observations on the Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation, which has just been established, regrettably seeks to prejudge its outcome even before the mechanism has begun its work," he said.
Peiris defended the domestic probe, saying that it was not unusual for countries emerging from armed conflicts to turn first to internal probes, partly because they were closer to the main issues.
"It is in this context that the government of Sri Lanka has consistently upheld and established a domestic mechanism for transitional justice," he said.
The state-run Daily News newspaper reported on May 5 on Colombo's plans to set up a reconciliation commission to foster ethnic unity as the island recovers from nearly four decades of conflict, but gave few details.
According to a document circulated by the Sri Lanka delegation at the Human Rights Council on Monday, the commission was set up on May 15, with eight people "selected for their eminence and independence."
They are required to examine the circumstances around the failure of a 2002 ceasefire agreement as well as lessons learnt from the conflict and how victims can be helped.
The commission should report back within six months.
Pillay assessed that some progress has been made since the end of the conflict in the return and resettlement of displaced people.
"Concrete initiatives must now follow to provide justice and redress to victims and generally to promote accountability and longer-term reconciliation," she added.
Government troops defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels in May last year after killing the guerilla leaders who were fighting for an ethnic Tamil homeland.
The UN estimates that up to 100,000 people died in Sri Lanka's Tamil separatist conflict after the Tiger rebels first emerged in 1972.
The Sinhalese are the majority in Sri Lanka, with the Tamils representing the minority.
Sri Lanka: Experiences of a Survivor..
Amnesty International India
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Vasuki is a Tamil refugee now living outside Sri Lanka.* In 2009 she spent several months in the No Fire Zone in Northern Sri Lanka struggling to survive with her 2 small children. Vasuki shares some of her desperate experiences of daily life trapped between the fighting parties – the Sri Lankan security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Vasuki spent several months in detention at Ananda Coomaraswamy camp after the war before leaving the country.
“In December 2008 I was living in Kilinochchi when my home came under aerial attack. We were displaced to Viswamadhu in Mullaitivu. The early days of displacement were not too difficult as Viswamadhu is an agricultural area. It was when we moved to PTK that we started to feel the pinch. We lived in a tent over a bunker. When there was no attack or shelling we could cook outside but when shelling was heavy we had to stay in the bunker for hours cooking and living there. For weeks my kids did not talk, they were so scared. They had to witness people dying from shell attacks and the memory of dead bodies lying all around will probably never vanish.
In March we had to move to Matalan in Mullivaikkal – this was crammed with tens of thousands of people. By now people had finished their supplies and eaten all they had, even their cattle. I had to fast so that I could feed my children and just drank the water I cooked the rice in. Elderly people collapsed around us or slipped into comas. I have to admit I tried to kill myself because I was so depressed but my daughters begged me not to give up. What kept us going was a belief that the UN would intervene to stop the terrible human suffering.
Shelling got steadily worst. Then on 15 May a huge explosion forced us to move towards Vella Mullivaikkal. I can’t describe the horror around us - we had to fight our way across a carpet of dead bodies. We finally made our way to Vatavahal bridge. Along the way the Army fired at us.
I find it hard to talk about this time.... people were also not happy with the LTTE as they forcibly recruited from families. What I know is that people want to live in peace but we cannot forget all those we left behind. You can’t give us back what we lost but you can give us justice”.
Amnesty International has launched a campaign “Justice for Survivors” to put pressure on the UN to open an independent investigation into war crimes committed by both sides. Help Vasuki and thousands like her by signing this petition. Amnesty is targeting atleast 50,000 signatures. Help them get there!
(*Vasuki’s name has been changed to protect her identity.)
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Vasuki is a Tamil refugee now living outside Sri Lanka.* In 2009 she spent several months in the No Fire Zone in Northern Sri Lanka struggling to survive with her 2 small children. Vasuki shares some of her desperate experiences of daily life trapped between the fighting parties – the Sri Lankan security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Vasuki spent several months in detention at Ananda Coomaraswamy camp after the war before leaving the country.
“In December 2008 I was living in Kilinochchi when my home came under aerial attack. We were displaced to Viswamadhu in Mullaitivu. The early days of displacement were not too difficult as Viswamadhu is an agricultural area. It was when we moved to PTK that we started to feel the pinch. We lived in a tent over a bunker. When there was no attack or shelling we could cook outside but when shelling was heavy we had to stay in the bunker for hours cooking and living there. For weeks my kids did not talk, they were so scared. They had to witness people dying from shell attacks and the memory of dead bodies lying all around will probably never vanish.
In March we had to move to Matalan in Mullivaikkal – this was crammed with tens of thousands of people. By now people had finished their supplies and eaten all they had, even their cattle. I had to fast so that I could feed my children and just drank the water I cooked the rice in. Elderly people collapsed around us or slipped into comas. I have to admit I tried to kill myself because I was so depressed but my daughters begged me not to give up. What kept us going was a belief that the UN would intervene to stop the terrible human suffering.
Shelling got steadily worst. Then on 15 May a huge explosion forced us to move towards Vella Mullivaikkal. I can’t describe the horror around us - we had to fight our way across a carpet of dead bodies. We finally made our way to Vatavahal bridge. Along the way the Army fired at us.
I find it hard to talk about this time.... people were also not happy with the LTTE as they forcibly recruited from families. What I know is that people want to live in peace but we cannot forget all those we left behind. You can’t give us back what we lost but you can give us justice”.
Amnesty International has launched a campaign “Justice for Survivors” to put pressure on the UN to open an independent investigation into war crimes committed by both sides. Help Vasuki and thousands like her by signing this petition. Amnesty is targeting atleast 50,000 signatures. Help them get there!
(*Vasuki’s name has been changed to protect her identity.)
Friday, May 28, 2010
Survivors of War in Sri Lanka Deserve Justice
Amnesty International India
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It has been a year since the Sri Lankan government declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in a conflict where massive violations were committed by both sides. The scale and nature of atrocities escalated in the last stages of the military assault between January and May 2009. Witnesses say, many thousands of civilians died, caught between the warring parties.
The Sri Lankan government’s armed forces and the LTTE completely disregarded protecting civilians through their appalling military actions. This is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law that prohibits indiscriminate or targeted attacks on civilians and hostage taking.
UN Silence
But where is the outrage? Why is the UN Security Council (UNSC) silent?
Countries like Russia and China have argued that there was no threat to international peace and security since the conflict was contained within Sri Lanka’s borders. But such gross violations of international humanitarian law impact us all if countries are allowed to get away with it. Today it is Sri Lanka. Tomorrow it could be another country and then another and then another. UN General Secretary, Ban Ki-Moon, tried to discuss the situation with the Sri Lankan President directly. But his actions to ensure accountability in Sri Lanka as elsewhere remain very weak and fall short of pushing for an international inquiry that is so clearly needed.
The survivors of the conflict have no closure. In Sri Lanka, they have been offered no recourse to justice, truth and reparations.
It is only international pressure in the form of a UN mandated independent investigation that will ensure that states like Sri Lanka are not allowed to hide from the crimes they commit inside their borders.
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It has been a year since the Sri Lankan government declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in a conflict where massive violations were committed by both sides. The scale and nature of atrocities escalated in the last stages of the military assault between January and May 2009. Witnesses say, many thousands of civilians died, caught between the warring parties.
The Sri Lankan government’s armed forces and the LTTE completely disregarded protecting civilians through their appalling military actions. This is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law that prohibits indiscriminate or targeted attacks on civilians and hostage taking.
( Photograph courtesy - Amnesty International)
UN Silence
But where is the outrage? Why is the UN Security Council (UNSC) silent?
Countries like Russia and China have argued that there was no threat to international peace and security since the conflict was contained within Sri Lanka’s borders. But such gross violations of international humanitarian law impact us all if countries are allowed to get away with it. Today it is Sri Lanka. Tomorrow it could be another country and then another and then another. UN General Secretary, Ban Ki-Moon, tried to discuss the situation with the Sri Lankan President directly. But his actions to ensure accountability in Sri Lanka as elsewhere remain very weak and fall short of pushing for an international inquiry that is so clearly needed.
The survivors of the conflict have no closure. In Sri Lanka, they have been offered no recourse to justice, truth and reparations.
It is only international pressure in the form of a UN mandated independent investigation that will ensure that states like Sri Lanka are not allowed to hide from the crimes they commit inside their borders.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Child Labour....Complete Violation Of Human Rights.....
Amnesty International India
In 2006 July a group of 19 adolescent boys and girls from Kherwada block of Udaipur district were hired through a middleman to work in a cottonseed farm in Mehsana district of Gujarat. There, according to the older girls in the group, the owner of the farm and his partners sexually harassed three of them. When the girls resisted, some of the group members including one girl were severally beaten and thrown out of the field. With no money in their pockets, the group had to walk back for three days and two nights to reach home.
Approximately one lakh children from the tribal-dominated southern districts of Rajasthan are trafficked to northern Gujarat to work in cottonseed fields every year. For many years now, there have been reports of sexual harassment, physical and mental torture, long hours and harsh conditions of work, low wages, as well as unsafe and unhygienic living conditions on these farms. Every year there have been cases of deaths of children; in 2009 there were as many as 11 such reports. Some of these are from snake bites and exposure to pesticides; but more gruesome than these are the rape-and-murder reports.
I really dont understand why these cruel people are after the life of poor childrens......dont they have any right to survive in a dignified manner and have education and atleast a medium standard of living....why they are always subject to such humilation everytime...For records , many projects and plans have been made for them but the reality is completely different and horrible ! There should be a strict rule to apply upon until then India,s tomorrow will remain in slums and will depend on begging for its living.....
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Approximately one lakh children from the tribal-dominated southern districts of Rajasthan are trafficked to northern Gujarat to work in cottonseed fields every year. For many years now, there have been reports of sexual harassment, physical and mental torture, long hours and harsh conditions of work, low wages, as well as unsafe and unhygienic living conditions on these farms. Every year there have been cases of deaths of children; in 2009 there were as many as 11 such reports. Some of these are from snake bites and exposure to pesticides; but more gruesome than these are the rape-and-murder reports.
I really dont understand why these cruel people are after the life of poor childrens......dont they have any right to survive in a dignified manner and have education and atleast a medium standard of living....why they are always subject to such humilation everytime...For records , many projects and plans have been made for them but the reality is completely different and horrible ! There should be a strict rule to apply upon until then India,s tomorrow will remain in slums and will depend on begging for its living.....
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Thursday, May 20, 2010
Human Rights....Excuse me ..!
Amnesty International India
Yesterday I went to a nice public school in the city, the extra classes are going on these days in some of the schools, I went in a class filled with around 25 students and asked randomly about Human Rights.....i asked can anybody of you tell me about Human Rights....? what are they ? how you can relate to them.....and there was complete silence....just a small giggle on my left hand side by a group of girls....it was strange for me to know that they were just wondering about...!!I then briefed them up with the topic but all my way to home i was thinking in such a big country where we people are talking about globalisation and technology our coming generation is unaware about such a vital issue....such importants rights ......
Anyways , Human Rights are not just mere some words to mug up but they are to be lived up....but in our country we all every morning read in the news paper about some or the other right being violated....but who will raise the voice....me...or Mr.Gupta in the neighbour or that newspaper hawker who is selling the news paper without being aware about any issue....well we all come across such questions in our daily life and we just ignore them because we know that it will take a lot of struggle to prove the right " Right ".....isint ?
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Yesterday I went to a nice public school in the city, the extra classes are going on these days in some of the schools, I went in a class filled with around 25 students and asked randomly about Human Rights.....i asked can anybody of you tell me about Human Rights....? what are they ? how you can relate to them.....and there was complete silence....just a small giggle on my left hand side by a group of girls....it was strange for me to know that they were just wondering about...!!I then briefed them up with the topic but all my way to home i was thinking in such a big country where we people are talking about globalisation and technology our coming generation is unaware about such a vital issue....such importants rights ......
Anyways , Human Rights are not just mere some words to mug up but they are to be lived up....but in our country we all every morning read in the news paper about some or the other right being violated....but who will raise the voice....me...or Mr.Gupta in the neighbour or that newspaper hawker who is selling the news paper without being aware about any issue....well we all come across such questions in our daily life and we just ignore them because we know that it will take a lot of struggle to prove the right " Right ".....isint ?
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