Uddhav Thackeray asserts his leadership of Shiv Sena Roundup
NAT78National/PoliticsUddhav Thackeray asserts his leadership of Shiv Sena RoundupMumbai, Oct 9 IANS Shiv Sena's executive president Uddhav Thackeray amply demonstrated that he has outgrown his cub days, and came into his own right as the next Sena tiger in waiting at an impressive speech at the party's customary Dussehra rally Thursday.As senior party leaders fawned over him, prior to the arrival of Sena chief Bal Thackeray, it became amply clear to all those present at the massive gathering at Shivaji Park as to who wields the real authority in the party now.Getting up confidently to address the gathering from the huge stage erected for the rally, Udhav dwelt on a variety of topics, concerning Mumbai, the state and national issues, his speech laced with sarcasm and wit, on the lines of his father.He endeared himself to the crowds with his opening remarks. “To all those who ask - Mumbai belongs to whose father - I say, it belongs to our fathers,” he thundered, evoking huge applause.He challenged all such “Go to Kolkata, or Chennai or Hyderabad and ask the same question there and see the reaction there. Everybody has taken the Marathis for granted. Not anymore. Marathi language and Maharashtrians must be respected,” he maintained.In the same vein, he trained his guns on the three union cabinet ministers at the centre from this state - Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.He said when the country is ravaged by bomb blasts and innocents were being killed, the home minister was more concerned about his sartorial tastes.Referring to Pawar, he said though hundreds of farmers are committing suicides, the union agriculture minister appears completely unperturbed. Shinde's name figured in an indirect reference to the severe energy crisis that has gripped the state over the past few years. “Are they human beings or mere stones” he wondered.Uddhav pointed out that whenever there are calamities anywhere in the country, Mumbai and Maharashtra have led the way and helped the people suffering everywhere in the country.“But when it comes to Maharashtra or Marathis, nobody bothers, but everybody wants money from Mumbai and continues to exploit this city,” he said.Reiterating the issue of Marathis was significant to the very survival of Mumbai and the state, and would remain a political issue, Uddhav said while Hindutva is like the breath, Marathi is the soul - one cannot exist without the other.He urged his partymen to unite and work for bringing the Shiv Sena back to power in Maharashtra, for as long as the Congress continued to rule the state, it would not progress.“Unless we are united, the Congress will succeed in its efforts to destroy us. In the past, it has made many attempts to break us, but the Sena chief his father Bal Thackeray effectively foiled them,” he said.He also indirectly chided people like cousin Raj Thackeray, and former partymen Narayan Rane and Chhagan Bhujbal, both ministers in the state government, for expressing concern over Bal Thackeray's health. “They need not worry, we are there to worry about him.”Others who addressed the rally included former chief minister and former Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi, Opposition Leader in the state assembly Ramdas Kadam and senior party leader Subhash Desai.--Indo-Asian News Serviceqn/sk/vt589 Words*09102257
2008-10-09 13:09:18BRUSSELS
INT44International/Rights/TerrorismThreats to civil liberties, rights increasing: UNBrussels, Oct 9 IANS Stringent security measures following the Sep 11, 2001 terror attack in the US are increasingly threatening civil liberties, the UN rights agency has warned and called for effective interventions to guard against rights abuse, EUAsiaNews reported Thursday."There is a great need for intervention by my office, human rights activists and the media to guard against the trampling of fundamental rights," UN Human Rights Commission UNHRC chief Navanetham Pillay said Wednesday. She called for "moderation" in anti-terrorism laws and said the broad definition of terrorism should be more focussed.The UN official was speaking to reporters at the end of a conference here commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Pillay criticised the lengthy periods of detention of terror suspects, saying "they remind me of the terrible laws we had in apartheid South Africa which allowed a 90-day period of detention". "I am watching out for these kinds of incursions in human freedom that appear to now be prevalent post 9/11," she stated. Pillay served as a judge on the International Criminal Court at the Hague before her present appointment and had earlier served both as a judge and president on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. A South African national of Indian origin, Pillay was appointed as the world body's human rights chief Sep 1. --Indo-Asian News Servicedkg/jg249 Words09101322
2008-10-09 04:00:06Human Rights Watch slams Jordan for prison torture
INT4International/Law/RightsHuman Rights Watch slams Jordan for prison tortureAmman, Oct 9 DPA The Human Rights Watch Wednesday accused the Jordanian authorities of practicing "routine and widespread torture" at its prisons and urged the government to amend its mechanisms for investigating, disciplining and prosecuting abusers. The charges came in a 95-page report entitled "Torture and Impunity in Jordan's Prisons: Reforms Fail to Tackle Widespread Abuse" that was released at a press conference. "Torture in Jordan's prison systems is widespread event two years after King Abdullah called for reforms to stop it once and for all," said Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW Middle East director. "The mechanisms for preventing torture by holding torturers accountable are simply not working," she added. The report said that the findings were based on "credible allegations of ill-treatment, often amounting to torture" from 66 out of 110 prisoners interviewed at random in 2007 and 2008 in seven of Jordan's 10 jails. "Human Rights Watch's evidence suggests that five prison directors personally participated in torturing detainees," it added. "Jordan has made some attempts to address the problem of torture in prisons, but the bottom line is that the measures have been insufficient, and torture persists as a consequence," Whitson said. The Jordanian Public Security Department PSD rejected the report, saying it "lacked precision and included several contradictions and erroneous conclusions". "The HRW based its report on individual allegations that lacked legal support, fairness and objectivity," PSD spokesman Major Mohammad Khatib was quoted as saying by the official Petra news agency. "The report was based on interviews with 110 inmates who represent only two per thousand of prisoners who frequent the correction centres annually and who were chosen on selective basis," Khatib said. "Torture and mistreatment of prisoners are classified as crimes under the Jordanian law and those who commit such acts should be punished," he added.--DPAskp/333 Words09100046
2008-10-09 00:00:00UN rights chief, Amnesty, criticise SAfrica over xenophobia AFP
AFP - The UN human rights chief Tuesday urged South Africa to do more to stop xenophobic violence, as Amnesty International said officials had failed to help foreigners displaced by the attacks....
2008-10-07 18:00:00Uganda: Expedite House Rights Committee
The announcement by the Speaker of Parliament Edward Ssekandi that the House is considering setting up a committee on human rights; is quite heartwarming....
2008-10-07 08:27:20Thai Parliament surrounded by protestors, premier flees
INT39International/Politics/RightsThai Parliament surrounded by protestors, premier fleesBangkok, Oct 7 DPA Thousands of followers of the Thailand's People's Alliance for Democracy PAD surrounded parliament Tuesday, forcing the prime minister to flee the compound by helicopter, after police failed to disperse the anti-government protestors with tear gas. Riot police attempted to scatter the demonstration around parliament early Tuesday by firing tear gas into the crowd, injuring about 70 people, several seriously. At least two protestors lost their lower legs and another lost his right hand, apparently from tear gas canisters either shot at close range or detonated when the victims attempted to kick or throw them back at police. "We want the government to dissolve parliament by 6 pm," said Sonthi Limthongkul, a key leader of the PAD which has occupied Government House, the seat of government, since Aug 26. "If not, we will take strong measures against the government." Thousands of PAD followers marched on parliament Monday night in an effort to prevent the lower and upper houses from holding a session to approve the new government's policy statement. Although the PAD demonstration failed to prevent the parliamentary session from being held, they succeeded in surrounding the compound and locking the gates, blocking some with police vans and trucks whose tyres had been flattened. Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, after reading his government's policy statement, was forced to flee the parliament compound in a helicopter. Hundreds of legislators were trapped within the compound with no way out by car. After the initial attack on the PAD at about 6.20 a.m., demonstrators stormed the Metropolitan Police headquarters on Rajdamnoen Nok Road, around the corner from parliament, to protest the crackdown. "I was just sitting there. I didn't think the police would fire tear gas at us. This is barbaric," said Pradap Thaephu, 53, a woman PAD supporter who sustained a head wound from a tear gas cannister. Thai Queen Sirikit has reportedly donated funds for medical treatment of the injured. The police attack immediately drew criticism from human rights groups and the opposition Democrat Party refused to attend the Parliament session to protest the use of violence. The initial police attack left about 70 PAD followers injured, primarily from tear gas canisters but others from what appeared to be rubber bullet wounds, said medics who had set up emergency treatment stations in Parliament. The police have denied using rubber bullets, but eyewitnesses said they saw guns being fired. Rubber bullets were also found on the street in front of parliament. Despite the police crackdown, the PAD protestors, many of them in tears from the gas, refused to leave the road in front of the Parliament building. Some of the protestors had armed themselves with golf clubs, iron bars and wooden sticks. The PAD is a loose coalition of groups opposed to the return to power of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup on Sep 19, 2006. The current government is led by the People Power Party PPP, a group with close ties to Thaksin that is now led by Somchai, Thaksin's brother-in-law. There are fears among the PAD that this government is seeking to reinstate the 1997 constitution, a liberal, pro-political parties charter that paved the way for Thaksin's rise to power in 2001 to 2006 and allowed his Thai Rak Thai party to dominate the political scene unhampered by independent bodies and checks and balances. The arrest of PAD leader Chamlong Srimuang on treason charges Sunday was deemed an invitation to escalate the PAD protest and the derailing of efforts to reach a compromise with the movement that is fighting for an era of "new politics" in Thailand.--DPAdkg668 Words07101423
2008-10-07 05:00:00Sri Lanka's renegade rebel leader turns legislator amid protests
INT31International/PoliticsSri Lanka's renegade rebel leader turns legislator amid protestsBy P. KarunakharanColombo, Oct 7 IANS Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, a famed Tamil Tiger guerrilla who sensationally split the group four years ago, Tuesday took oath as a member of Sri Lanka's 225-seat parliament amid protests by the opposition parties, parliament sources said. Muralitharan, widely known by his nom de guerre Karuna, heads the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal TMVP, which he formed after breaking from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE in 2004. He was sworn in by Speaker W.J.M. Lokkubandara as a MP of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance UPFA coalition led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.According to the sources, while MPs from the treasury benches "warmly welcomed" Muralitharan, who used to be known as "Colonel Karuna" when he was in the LTTE, the legislators of the opposition parties walked out of the house when he took oath. Members of the main opposition United National Party UNP, the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna JVP and the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance TNA virtually boycotted his oath taking event as a mark of protest. According to a government gazette notification, Karuna was named to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of former UPFA MP Wasantha Samarasinghe, who chose to contest the recent north-central provincial council election as a candidate of the JVP, a former coalition partner of the UPFA.The JVP has threatened to take legal action against the move to make Karuna a MP, accusing the ruling coalition of breaching an electoral pact of 2004 between the UPFA and JVP.Karuna was born in Kiran, a village in the eastern district of Batticaloa in 1966. He joined the LTTE when he was 17 years old following the 1983 anti-Tamil violence. He quickly rose the ranks to become the LTTE's eastern province regional commander and led a number of attacks against the Sri Lankan military in the northeast. Karuna also took part in several rounds of peace talks with the government as a key member of the LTTE peace delegation after the Norwegian-brokered ceasefire agreement was signed in 2002.Once a trusted lieutenant of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, he broke away from the group along with hundreds of cadres loyal to him in March 2004. Since then, he and his cadres have worked closely with the government, hunting down his former comrades. The TMVP deputy leader, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, known as Pillaiyan, is now chief minister of the maiden provincial council in the country's east.Karuna returned to Sri Lanka in July from Britain after nine months in prison after authorities there found him guilty of illegally entering the country allegedly on a diplomatic passport.In the past, local and international human rights groups have accused Karuna of rights violations including abductions and child recruitment. He has denied the allegations.--Indo-Asian News Servicepk/mr503 Words*07101307
2008-10-07 04:01:10Naxals in Chhattisgarh interfering in life of tribals: NHRC
Naxalites in Chhattisgarh are interfering in the day-to-day life of tribal forcing them to support the movement, indulge in human trafficking and enroll minors in their organisation, the National Huma...
2008-10-06 05:00:00Naxals in Chattisgarh interfering in life of tribals: NHRC
Naxalites in Chhattisgarh are interfering in the day-to-day life of tribal forcing them to support the movement, indulge in human trafficking and enroll minors in their organisation, the National Huma...
2008-10-06 03:21:06Peru children demand right to work, end to exploitation
INT5International/Rights/SocietyPeru children demand right to work, end to exploitationBy Alvaro MellizoLima, Oct 6 EFE Child labour may be condemned as a gross abuse of human rights, but in Peru children are demanding their right to lawful employment as an alternative to labour exploitation, arguing if poverty persists, so will child labour.The Manthoc Child and Adolescent Workers' Association uses its scarce resources to promote the rights of children and a better quality of life for labourers under the legal working age.They come together on their own initiative - with adults performing only minor roles - to demand recognition of child labour as a legal activity, in which children's development is promoted and youths are protected from harm.The members of Manthoc, aged six to 18, elect their leaders and make their own proposals, receiving assistance from adults on administrative and other matters, Manthoc's national delegate, Fabiola Segura, said.Speaking with a coherence and eloquence that belies her young age, Segura, who since the age of nine has been working as a baker, artisan and street vendor, said the rationale of child labour is apparent: children will have to work so long there is poverty."Without alternative policies and dignified work, child workers will be exploited, and as long as wealth is not well distributed, poverty will continue to exist. Young people work illegally out of necessity and it's there where authorities need to intervene," Segura said.At her office in the poor Lima neighbourhood of Ciudad de Dios, which also serves as a school-workshop for child labourers, Segura said the group's goal is to overturn legislation that - well-intentioned though - ignores a social and cultural reality in which children are part of the country's productive work force.At present, Peruvian legislation permits the employment of children at the age of 14, or 12 in some cases, although different non-government organizations estimate that the almost 2.5 million child labourers in Peru begin working at even younger ages.Manthoc said the solution lies in establishing and enforcing dignified working conditions and ensuring that children are valued, protected and respected for the labour that they perform.Although having to earn a livelihood means for children less time for rest, play and study and taking adult responsibilities, they say they are proud to be able to help their families and earn their own money.Samuel Calderon, another Manthoc national delegate, said the difference between their organization and others that fight against child labour is that the latter only see the exploitation and the abuse and do not consider the positive aspects."I've worked at the warehouse at my home when I was six, selling merchandise, and it's a way to learn, each person getting something out of their work and developing skills," Calderon said.According to Manthoc, for work to be "dignified" it must be voluntary, suitable to the child's age and allow the minor to attend school until he or she has completed basic educational requirements.The Manthoc youths also offer assistance and training to other children who are victims of exploitation.At their small workshops, the organization's 3,500 children work in dignified conditions and receive food, help with schoolwork, psychological assistance and professional training while they make sweets, wooden toys or gift cards that they later sell.All of Manthoc's activities and policies have the same overarching goal: empowering children and giving them control over their future.Segura said it was regrettable that "politicians make laws that in principle are to help children but in the end don't benefit them at all, and that's why we want to express our opinion."--EFEdkg634 Words06100747
2008-10-06 00:00:06
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