Category: Make All The Difference

EU adopts new laws to fight human trafficking

AHN News Staff

Brussels, Belgium (AHN) – In an attempt to curb human trafficking, the European Union has approved a new law under which it will punish those who will assist the smuggling gangs with 5-10 years of jail sentence.

A large majority of Euro parliamentarians also passed tougher measures to combat forced labor as well as sexual exploitation.

Denmark and the United Kingdom were unconvinced with the new law, as they were concerned about the EU judicial powers.

Despite this, UK Conservative MEPs still voted for it. “The EU’s directive is not perfect but, given the stakes, we decided to give it our support,” said Marina Yannakoudakis, MEP of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group.

She said that the EU directive came a little closer to the red line, adding that she still believes that the criminal law would continue to remain with national governments and EU would not cross it.

The directive will replace EU’s 2002 decision and broadly defines exploitation as instigating, aiding, abetting or attempting all comes under human trafficking crime. The bloc has two years’ time to bring it into effect.

If the perpetrator is a legal entity, the directive will impose sanctions like fines or exclude it from public funding. In extreme cases, it also reserves the right to permanently close the organizations.

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Holbrooke Dies, Diplomatic World Mourns

Tejinder Singh – AHN News Correspondent

Washington, D,C., United States (AHN) – Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. president’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan died on Monday at George Washington Hospital, where he was admitted on Friday evening.

“Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke passed away this evening, surrounded by his wife, Kati, his sons David and Anthony, his step-children Elizabeth and Chris Jennings, his daughter-in-law Sarah, and the rest of their family,” said a statement from the U.S. State Department.

President Barack Obama said, “Michelle and I are deeply saddened by the passing of Richard Holbrooke, a true giant of American foreign policy who has made America stronger, safer, and more respected,” adding, “He was a truly unique figure who will be remembered for his tireless diplomacy, love of country, and pursuit of peace.”

“When I became President, I was grateful that Richard agreed to serve as Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan,” noted the president.

In another statement, Vice President Joe Biden called Holbrooke, “a great friend,” saying, “America lost one of its greatest warriors for peace.”

“Jill and I will miss him tremendously and we extend our deepest sympathies to his wife Kati and the entire Holbrooke family during their time of grief,” added Biden.

Secretary Hillary Clinton called Holbrooke, “one of its fiercest champions and most dedicated public servants,” adding, “Richard Holbrooke served the country he loved for nearly half a century, representing the United States in far-flung war-zones and high-level peace talks, always with distinctive brilliance and unmatched determination.”

“Tonight my thoughts and prayers are with Richard’s beloved wife Kati, his sons David and Anthony, his step-children Elizabeth and Chris Jennings, his daughter-in-law Sarah, and all of his countless friends and colleagues,” Clinton concluded.

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Fayyad eyes more U.S. mediation in Middle East peace talks

AHN News Staff

Washington, United States (AHN) – Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Sunday suggested the United States to enhance its role as the mediator of Middle East peace talks’ core issues.

In a statement to the ABC program “This Week”, Fayyad expressed hopes that the progress towards peace settlement could still happen in spite of the refusal byIsrael to stop building new settlements in the disputed regions of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Fayyad added that Israel should provide details about its position on core issues like the Jerusalem’s status, refugees’ return and what a Palestinian state would entail. He added that Israel’s defiance on halting the settlements eroding trust in the process.

When asked about his views on whether the U.S. should offer “bridging” proposals on specific issues, Fayyad said that “may be necessary.” “It may be unavoidable, actually, for the U.S., acting as a broker at some point, to come in with bridging proposals so we make this happen,” he added.

The interview came nearly two days after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton failed to convince Israel on settlement – a point, which Palestinians kept as pre-condition to resume direct talks.

“It is no secret that the parties have a long way to go and that they have not yet made the difficult decisions that peace requires,” Clinton told the Brookings Institution’s Saban Forum.

Meanwhile, a group of 26 former European Union leaders has called on the bloc to impose a round of sanctions on Israel for ignoring international community’s call to build settlements on the occupied Palestinian territory.

Their call came through a letter in which they said that Israel, just like other states, must be made to pay price for violating the international law. Former EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana was among the signatories.

However, Solana’s successor Catherine Ashton has refused to change the bloc’s approach in this regard. Responding to the proposal, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official said that it showed a giant leap of bad faith.

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U.S. Watches As Ambassador Holbrooke Collapses

Tejinder Singh – AHN News Correspondent

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. president’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is struggling in a critical condition at George Washington University hospital after admission on Friday morning.

“This morning, doctors completed surgery to repair a tear in his aorta. He is in critical condition and has been joined by his family,” said PJ Crowley, the State Department spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.

Earlier on Friday, at the regular briefing, Crowley refused to elaborate on Holbrooke;s condition, saying, “All I can tell you is that the ambassador is at the hospital at the present time, and beyond that I will — we will let you know, as we find out more.”

Crowley also refused to confirm media reports that Ambassador Holbrooke collapsed at Secretary Hillary Clinton’s office, saying on Friday, “It happened on the seventh floor,”

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Human rights report paints gloomy picture of Nepal in many fronts

Anil Giri – AHN News Correspondent

Kathmandu, Nepal (AHN) – Hong Kong based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), has issued a report this week on the occasion of Human Rights Day 2010, highlighting the defects that are evident in the area of the judiciary as extraordinary delays often affect the possibility of fair trail.

“The Constituent Assembly of Nepal is not able to move any step forward despite the passing of two years and seven months since it first resolved to draft a new constitution for the country. The deadline fixed for the Constituent Assembly expired on 28 May 2010,” it said.

“Deepening bickering and appalling irresponsibility among the political parties in the country is solely responsible for this impasse. The people of Nepal have become increasingly desperate and can find no solution to this shameful and stagnated political deadlock,” the report cliams, painting a dismal and gloomy picture of country.

“The people’s faith in finding a solution to most of their legitimate grievances arising out of past and continuing human rights violations has rapidly eroded along with their dream of having a functioning democratic republic for which they have sacrificed lives and freedoms in the past,” if further reads.

Despite repeated promises, human rights violations committed before 2008 are yet to be investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted.

Reports made by government commissions are yet to be made public and it is feared that none of these reports will result in any credible actions in the near future.

“On the contrary, despite the country resolving to become a federal democratic republic, human rights violations committed by the state security agencies, the police and other politically affiliated units continue even today.”

The country neither has an adequate number of formal and functioning justice institutions nor are there any serious discussions to constitute them. Even today, the day-to-day functioning of the police, prosecution and the judiciary and other essential service-providing institutions do not exist in Nepal beyond Kathmandu.

“The civil war and long periods of neglect has resulted in pushing an alarmingly high number of the population to the verge of extinction. Kathmandu today has reduced to a capital city that portrays the appalling living conditions in Nepal. The city hardly has the infrastructure to function, including basic facilities like water and electricity to meet the requirement of the city’s population,” the report bluntly reads.

The AHRC expects that in the coming year, the government will take adequate steps to ensure that the unacceptable status quo is changed. However, this not only requires the resolve of the ordinary people of Nepal, but also of its neighbours and above all that of the international community that still entertains concern for the people of Nepal.

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International Outrage Follows Arrest of Wikileaks Founder

Tom Ramstack – AHN News Correspondent

London, United Kingdom (AHN) – International protest is building about the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange this week. Assange is being held in a British jail awaiting extradition to Sweden on rape charges.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department is seeking to extradite him to the United States to face espionage charges after his Web site released more than 250,000 documents that exposed secret State Department communications. However, political leaders in Australia, Brazil, Russia and elsewhere say Assange is a political prisoner who is being punished for exercising rights of the free press.

Some of the harshest criticism is coming from Australia, where hundreds of people rallied Thursday in three cities to protest Assange’s arrest. Assange is an Australian citizen.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said Assange was merely doing the job of any journalist by publishing the documents. “The blame for any violations of the law should fall on the persons who gave the documents to Wikileaks,” Rudd said. “The Americans are responsible for that.”

The State Department communications, called “cables,” described Rudd as a “control freak” and said that he made mistakes as Australia’s foreign minister.

Rudd said he was unconcerned about the criticisms.

He also said Australia would offer consular help to Assange.

Consular help refers to sending diplomats to meet with a citizen of their own country who is arrested abroad to determine whether legal assistance can be arranged.

In Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva described the arrest of Assange as a crime.

“I want to express my protest against this offense against free expression,” Lula said. “I will use the presidential blog to express my protest.”

He also encouraged the international news media to be more vigorous in defending Assange.

“The young man who is giving so much trouble to the diplomacy of the United States was arrested and so far I have not seen any protest defending free expression,” Lula said.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin described the U.S. government’s efforts to prosecute Assange as hypocritical.

“If it is full democracy, then why have they hidden Mr. Assange in prison,” Putin said during a press conference Thursday. “That’s what, democracy?”

Putin’s remarks appear to be a response to a February 2010 cable from Defense Secretary Robert Gates that said, “Russian democracy has disappeared and the government is an oligarchy run by the security services.”

In Mexico, the Journalists Club put up a plaque in their Mexico City headquarters honoring Assange for his “contribution to the conscience of mankind.”

The State Department documents published by Wikileaks described Mexico’s difficulties in managing its war with drug cartels. The cables described the government’s efforts as ineffective, often corrupt and divided among competing administrators.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Research Service is saying any U.S. prosecution of Assange would face unprecedented legal and diplomatic challenges.

A 24-page report from the government agency examines how the Justice Department could apply U.S. criminal laws to a foreign news operation.

“We are aware of no case in which a publisher of information obtained through unauthorized disclosure by a government employee has been prosecuted for publishing it,” the report said.

The prosecution of Assange creates First Amendment and diplomatic hurdles “based on concerns about government censorship,” the report said.

Some members of Congress, such as Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I.-Conn) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), say Assange should be prosecuted under the Espionage Act of 1917.

However, the Congressional Research Service report said no single law forbids the news media from publishing diplomatic cables only a “patchwork” of statutes that leave unclear answers.

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Iceland to repay Britain $3.45 billion debt due to Icesave Bank failure

Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News

Reykjavik, Iceland (AHN) – Iceland will start repaying a $3.45 billion (EUR 2.6 billion) from Britain in 2016. Reykjavik owed the amount to London after the online Icesave Bank failed two years ago.

The agreement to repay ends two years of dispute over interest rates between the two countries after Iceland’s financial system collapsed in October 2008. Following the failure of Icesave’s parent company Landsbanki, the U.K. treasury had to bail out 300,000 British depositors, including 108 English, Scottish and Welsh councils that have high-interest accounts in Icesave.

The International Monetary Fund also extended a $2 billion loan, while Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark provided another $2.5 billion loan to Iceland.

According to the European Economic Area regulations, Iceland was supposed to pay each account holder $29,158 (EUR 22,000), but because of the financial straits in Iceland, Britain and the Netherlands offered the country a loan. Landsbanki also had a number of Dutch depositors.

Icelandic and British officials initially agreed a year ago to set the interest rate at 5 percent. However, 93 percent of Iceland residents rejected the agreement because they considered the interest rate too high.

The new agreement sets interest rate between 3 percent for the Netherlands and 3.3 percent for Britain on repayments from 2009 to 2016. The debt should be fully paid back by 2046.

The deal, however, needs the seal of approval from Iceland’s Parliament, president and government. If the agreement is approved, ratings agency Moody’s said Reykjavik’s credit rating could be raised and it may pave the way for Iceland joining the European Union.

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House Votes To Cut Funds For Terror Detainee Transfers Out Of Guantanamo Bay

AHN News Staff

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – In an attempt to prevent President Barack Obama’s plan to bring terror suspects to the United States for trial, the House voted 212-206 on Tuesday to curb the government’s expenses in the fiscal year. The measure targeted funds aimed at transferring inmates from a military holding facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to prisons in the U.S.

The move hurts Obama’s efforts to close the controversial detention camp by next year or his attempts to transfer 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed in America.

“None of the funds made available in this or any prior Act may be used to transfer, release, or assist in the transfer or release to or within the U.S., its territories, or possessions Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or any other detainee held at Guantanamo Bay as of June 24, 2009,” the bill explains.

The bill will be presented to the Senate for approval and would be sent to Obama to sign into law.

Upon assuming power in 2008, Obama had pledged to close down the notorious facility within a year but failed due to unyielding opposition from the U.S. Congress.

Currently, the prison, which is in Cuba’s Guantanamo naval base, holds nearly 170 detainees, including 58, who have been put into indefinite detention without trial.

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Former BC deputy premier seeks province’s Liberal Party top post

Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (AHN) – Former British Columbia Deputy Premier Christy Clark announced Wednesday she will run to become the leader of the Liberal Party in the province and subsequently BC premier.

Clark is the fifth BC politician to declare her candidacy to replace BC Liberal Party leader Gordon Campbell, who will retire early next year from politics. The Liberals will decide Campbell’s permanent replacement on Feb. 26.

Four other former Liberal cabinet members are interested to become Campbell’s replacement. They are George Abbott, Mike de Jong, Moira Stillwell and Kevin Falcon, whom political observers said has the edge at this point. The four recently quit their posts to concentrate on the February election.

Clark temporarily left mainstream politics to become a radio host. Following her announcement of her intention to seek the top post in the Liberal Party in BC, Clark filed for leave from hosting a CKNW radio talk show.

The Liberal election will focus on the harmonized sales tax. Campbell resigned in November as BC premier because of the unpopularity of the HST, which he imposed in July. Clark proposed a free vote on the HST, which will be the subject of a planned referendum in the province in September.

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Israel votes to ease Gaza’s export restrictions

AHN News Staff

Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) – Israel, which has restricted all exports from Gaza since 2007 when Hamas took control of the region, has shown some liberty and allowed exports of items like furniture, textiles and agricultural products – a move welcomed by the human rights groups.

The right groups said that they would be more pleased only when Israelis would implement the plan of easing their blockade of the Palestinian territory. Hamas, however, criticized the move, and its spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri described it as a publicity stunt.

He pointed out that Israel not only restricts raw materials from reaching Gaza but also limits people’s movement in the impoverished coastal strip.

In last more than three years, Israel had only allowed transfer of flowers and strawberries from the strip. The decision to ease exports came after security cabinet vote where parliamentarians claimed that the move was aimed at improving the living standards of the Palestinian population.

The move came after repeated international pressure from the U.S., European Union and the United Nations on Israel to completely lift exports’ ban from Gaza.

International envoy for the Middle East, Tony Blair, also lauded the move and described it as a “significant step”, adding that there was “a long way still to go”.

Israeli rights group, Btselem, also welcomed the move but said that the implementation part would prove how honest the Israeli government was while making the announcement.

“In the past, even while allowing import and export, Israel placed arbitrary restrictions that impaired trade,” it said in a statement.

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